In May, it seemed like a near-certainty that Buddy Hield had played his last game in a Sacramento Kings uniform. Not only had Hield been unsettled with his role as a the team’s Sixth Man, but the Kings had some incentive to trade him for more depth.
By the time July rolled around, there were rumors that the Kings had a trade lined up that would have sent Hield to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma. In fact, the negotiations reportedly got so far that Kuzma himself said he was shocked when the trade didn’t go through.