Exactly one month ago, we looked at how Buddy Hield was faring in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year race as the ninth-year veteran was off to a sizzling start for the Golden State Warriors.
Through his first eight outings with the Dubs, Hield was averaging 21.1 points per game, shooting 51.7 percent from the floor and an absurd 50.7 percent from the three-point line. At that time, his 37 made three-pointers ranked third in the NBA, trailing only Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum.
As such, Hield had the second-shortest odds at DraftKings to win Sixth Man of the Year at +500, sitting behind only Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (+400).
Since then, however, the 31-year-old has faded. It's not that he hasn't had some good games here and there over the last month, but from an overall standpoint, he's been nowhere near what he was in the early weeks of the campaign. And not only has Hield lost ground in the 6MOY race, but he's starting to lose minutes as well.
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Over the Warriors' last 14 games, Hield has averaged just 9.8 points per game, shooting 37.9 percent from the floor and 35.2 percent from the three-point line. Naturally, he's made far fewer threes during this stretch, connecting on just 31, and has fallen into a tie for 16th in that regard with 68 on the season.
Hield has played particularly poorly since the calendar turned to December, averaging just 5.0 points in Golden State's three games this month, shooting a dismal 25.0 percent from the field and a woeful 21.4 percent from beyond the arc.
As far as his standing in the 6th Man of the Year race is concerned, he's still in the top five but has seen his odds drop considerably, falling all the way down to +2500. Hield is now well behind Pritchard, who has a commanding lead at -275, and now also trails Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (+1400), Atlanta Hawks forward De'Andre Hunter (+1600), and Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain (+2000).
More importantly, Hield's standing in Steve Kerr's rotation is falling as well. Yes, he got his second start of the season and played 27 minutes against the Rockets this past Thursday night, but that's only because Steph Curry was sidelined with knee issues.
With Curry back in the lineup on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Hield was given just 13 minutes as Kerr opted to give Lindy Waters III and Gary Payton II more time. And it looks worse with the fact that both Andrew Wiggins and Moses Moody left early with injuries.
All shooters go through dry spells. That's just the nature of the game. But if Hield continues to struggle, Kerr may have no choice but to continue sitting him more than he already has.