The Warriors have been a team full of surprises this season. Few would have thought they would be 6-1 after losing to Klay Thompson in the offseason. And no one could have predicted that they would do it with Buddy Hield as their leading scorer.

Hield was a revelation in Golden State, averaging 21.9 points per game off the bench. Forget Thompson – Hield shoots better from the field, hits more threes and scores more points than Steph Curry. After being promoted to around five teams over the last eight seasons and even being eliminated from the Sixers’ rotation midway through the playoffs last year, he has found the perfect landing spot.

Buddy Hield is thriving as Klay Thompson’s replacement for the Warriors

Buddy Hield gets the best three of his life

Hield has always been one of the best motion shooters in the league. Before coming to Golden State, he had made 40.0 percent of his 3s. That number has increased by as much as 50.0 percent this year, thanks in large part to the quality of the recordings he has made. He slipped right into the role of Klay Thompson and flew off the screen for open three-pointers.

Hield and Curry were unstoppable together. Both are five-alarm fires if they are in the area. When they shield each other, defenses can’t help but panic and send extra help to one while the other stays open.

Hield also benefits from the Warriors’ big men, who have been trained for years on how to get shooters on offense. Kevon Looney and Draymond Green set up killer screens and used their experienced tactics to create space for Hield like he has never done before.

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Buddy Hield’s cuts are impossible to swallow

Hield has built a reputation as a nuke, but he’s not a one-trick pony. He was a good finisher at the rim and a skilled cutter. When defenders block him from above to prevent him from using screens, he is smart enough to counter with a simple dive to the basket.

If they sit on his handoffs, he can change direction and go to the baseline for a dunk.

Hield also gets a lot of easy balls in transition, where he often simply runs harder than his defender. Curry is constantly looking for him to take advantage of those opportunities, and that has led to a joy that the team has been missing in recent years.

The Warriors are hiding Buddy Hield’s warts

Hield is not the perfect player. The Pacers were willing to trade him to the Sixers, where he was never able to find solid footing. His defense has been a major problem throughout his career. Jeff Van Gundy once announced on national television that he would lose his mind if Hield botched the same coverage over and over again.

Hield won’t change much in his ninth year in the league. But for the Warriors, he appears to be much more committed, and they have the personnel around him to cover up his mistakes.

Seven games into the season, the Warriors are shockingly the second-largest defense in the league. After finishing second in 2022 and winning a championship, they were about league average in the previous two seasons.

Hield is not part of this transformation. But the reemergence of Andrew Wiggins, Green continuing to excel, a slew of role players who can defend, and the Warriors increasing their defensive aggression have them defending like they used to in their heyday. They played on Hield’s propensity to get caught watching the ball better than his previous teams, as Green said on NBA radio Sirius XM in the preseason.

“I’m sure some teams would say, ‘Don’t chase the ball!’ We’re like, ‘Great, okay, he’s chasing the ball.’ We’re going to figure out how to turn that into a positive… We’re not asking you to be anything you’re not.

Hield plays a lot and his 1.6 steals per 36 minutes is a career high. If he misses these attempts, the team is good enough to cover him. And when he gets one, he makes an automatic transition.

The Warriors have allowed Hield to be the best version of himself – a pure scorer who uses his energy to fly around the court on offense. It’s resulted in a career year for him, and right now they seem much closer to their dynasty form than they were last year. No one replaces Thompson’s legacy. But at this point in her career, Hield knows his strengths and limitations better than Thompson did last season. He’s focused on what he’s great at, and that’s led to a resurgent Golden State team.