The basics everyone knows - Buddy Hield is expiring, is an amazing volume shooter, and can run a lot of plays that Embiid loves like dribble handoffs when Maxey sits. We’re actually not going to focus on offense here but on defense and secondary playmaking - two things you don’t think about when you think Buddy Hield.
Defense
Buddy is actually one of the more versatile defenders in the NBA and hasn’t graded out as a bad defender the last few seasons on a terrible defensive team in Indiana. He’s not been their problem and been one of the bright spots.
In four straight seasons on bad defensive teams, Buddy’s teams have done better with him on the court than without and have actually been solid overall. The defensive numbers are the last column below (per Cleaning the Glass)
Why? Imo, this generally boils down to his defensive versatility. This article has a great breakdown (Basketball Poetry). Buddy doesn’t guard any position amazingly well, but he’s got the foot speed, strength and the energy to guard down in size to a Donovan Mitchell and up in size to a KD and make them actually work for their shots. That’s pretty hard to do and a big reason why he’s actually a way better defender than people give him credit for.
Passing
When Buddy’s been asked to run an offense, he hasn’t been electric, but way more serviceable than you think. Even off ball, he’s been a good connective passer, with ast percentages around 15-20% for the last 3-4 years of his career. The main year he was asked to do more on ball was when he first arrived in Indiana. That year, he gave you ~5 assists and was a big part of running a probably unsustainably efficient offense.
Overall
Buddy is an extremely underrated player at this point, with people thinking he’s basically a glorified shooter. He’s a versatile defender, a solid secondary passer, and teams are almost always better with him on the floor than with him off it. Along with his fit with Joel, the fact that he wouldn’t limit future flexibility, addresses a bunch of key weaknesses on the Sixers, and is likely pretty cheap - he’s perhaps the best low tier target the Sixers can get this year. Of course, he’s no Markannen / Mitchell / etc level player, but he’s a very good stop gap to help us compete this year while still having everything we need to go for a big fish this offseason if nothing happens by the deadline.
The issue is even if that happens will be happy coming off the bench