Don’t look for any Sacramento Kings to be on the court on Sunday of All-Star Weekend. But there could be some purple on Saturday night.
NBA All-Star Weekend is right around the corner, and voting for the Sunday game has begun. While there won’t (and shouldn’t) be anyone representing the Sacramento Kings in the All-Star Game, the other events are a different story.
The Kings haven’t had an All-Star on their roster since DeMarcus Cousins. When he received his first All-Star nod, he was the first King to do so since Brad Miller and Peja Stojakovic 11 years earlier. This year’s version of the team won’t be bucking that trend as injuries and shooting slumps have wrecked statistical outputs.
But All-Star weekend is full of events, and there are a handful of Kings players who we think are worthy of participating in some of them.
Buddy Hield For Three-Point Contest
Yes, Buddy Hield‘s numbers are down from last season. In 2018-19, he shot 42.7% from three, making 278 in total which was good enough for 7th most all-time. He participated in the Three-Point Contest and had the third-best odds of winning. He came in third place behind Joe Harris and Stephen Curry.
This season is a different story for Hield. He is shooting just 36.8% from distance and has endured a shooting slump that he is slowly but surely breaking out of. But he is still shooting well enough to have the third most made threes in the league behind only James Harden and Devonte’ Graham.
Much of Hield’s struggles have come from playing a different role this season due to the injuries to De’Aaron Fox, as he has had to be a creator more than a catch-and-shooter. Hield is at his best moving without the ball and coming off of screens, and excels when taking one or fewer dribbles before any shot attempt.
There is no dribbling in the Three-Point Contest.
There are ten players that participate in the contest each season, and Buddy Hield certainly qualifies as a top-10 three-point shooter in the league.