Hield is 22; most players are drafted at 21 or younger.
There are two ways in which these two extra years might give a false impression of his talent.
First, he has a significant advantage over other players.
In the 18-22 range, a couple of years make a big difference.
Hield had 1-3 years more of high level basketball playing and training; he also had more time to improve his strength, speed etc
At least part of his recent success can be explained away by these factors.
Second, as a player spends more time in the NCAA it is harder to see how his skills will translate into the NBA. Add to this the danger is that the player gets used to NCAA levels of competition and might take longer to adjust to the NBA.
Clearly, being drafted young is no guarantee of success. James Young was drafted at 19, and his skills have not translated well either.
Still, I doubt Hield will maintain anything close to his present FG% and scoring against NBA defenders. DraftExpress has him at nr 7 of a weak draft class despite all the recent success. At least for now, it is best to remain a bit skeptical.
The ability to improve is more important than raw talent and numbers. If James Young could have improved the last two years, we wouldn't be talking about Buddy at all. has talent but he has not demonstrated the ability to improve so he is a risk of being a bust. To me, the odds tilt in the favor of Buddy.
I don't know about that. Okafor's numbers this year are way better than the 0.0 points, 0.0 rebounds, and 0.0 blocks per game that he posted in the NBA last year. And his FG% is .508 higher!
Also, Okafor is averaging more ppg and rpg in the NBA at age 20 than Hield did in college at age 20.
Poll
Topic: Poll: Okafor or Buddy Hield (Read 7178 times)