On Friday’s episode of “The Lowe Podcast,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe suggested an interesting trade idea of Oklahoma City sending Isaiah Joe , Davis Bertans and three second-round picks to the Indiana Pacers for Buddy Hield.
“Shooters, shooters, shooters. Put some shooters around Shai. And certainly the Bertans contract is probably going to be the one… I’m looking at Bertans with a combination of Isaiah Joe and three [second-round picks],” Lowe said.
Hield, the 30-year-old veteran shooting guard, and the Pacers’ contract extension negotiations stalled attempting to come to an agreement following his four-year, $94 million expiring deal in 2023-24, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Joe will enter his fourth season in the league in the second year of his three-year, $5.98 million contract. Bertans also has a year left following this season in his five-year, $80 million deal. He’ll be making $17 million with the Thunder this year.
Oklahoma City certainly has a stockpile of picks, giving up three second-round picks of their entire 19 over the course of the next seven years would not hinder them much at all.
“I just think Isaiah Joe’s good,” Lowe added. “I’m going to say no to that from Oklahoma City’s perspective, but they’re not on my list.”
For some context, he wasn’t throwing this idea out as one of the primary destinations he thinks Hield might land, rather just a suggestion on a whim. But it had riled up the Thunder discourse, some outright saying Joe is better than Hield.
With many Oklahoma City fans not in favor of the suggested trade, it’s hard to imagine a 40.2% 3-point shooting career — shooting 7.7 threes on average and sinking 1705 of them in seven seasons — being unable to elevate a team with a lack of a true 3-point threat in the Thunder.
Not to say Joe isn’t 3-point adept either. He’s an impressive, young shooter at a 38.6% average from beyond the arc in his three-year career. But Hield is a different threat.
Hield is also an effective overall scorer, posting as high as 20.7 points in his career as a primary playmaker alongside De’Aaron Fox with the Sacramento Kings. His presence as a crafty and reliable ball handler could alleviate the weight beared by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Josh Giddey, as Hield’s pick-and-roll intelligence and ability to navigate screens off the ball also provide added offensive flexibility.
It’s not something that will likely happen of course, but Hield’s accomplishments in the league should be quite attractive for a lot of teams, including Oklahoma City.
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