It’s worth asking why Hield’s game has changed so much in Indiana. His all-around play has been the lifeblood for Indiana’s offense, which is 17.9 points per 100 possessions better than opponents with Hield on the court - the second-best mark for any player in the NBA this season. While his frequency and efficiency on shots inside the arc have improved in every area of the court, one shot type that stands out in particular is pull-up 2-pointers he’s attempting almost triple the rate in Indiana and converting them more than 20 percentage points more efficiently. At his number of drives (156) or higher, that’s the sixth-highest efficiency in the league since the trade deadline. That frequency has improved to 13.109 drives per 100 possessions in Indiana at a sparkling 1.140 points per chance. In Sacramento this season, he averaged 6.687 drives per 100 possessions, scoring a lowly 0.797 points per chance, per Second Spectrum.
Unlocking Hield’s newfound passing game is his newfound driving game. Such passes involve more north-south movement of the ball than perimeter passes, which tend to move east-west. 2 While he has slightly increased his rate of perimeter assists in Indiana, he has increased his rate of the more daring attacking and kickout assists by a larger margin. In Sacramento this season, the plurality of Hield’s assists were perimeter passes, according to Second Spectrum. For example, per Second Spectrum, he passes out of pick and rolls at more than twice the rate he did this year in Sacramento, and the Pacers are scoring 1.130 points per chance on those plays - his most efficient pick-and-roll outcome this season.
That’s a monstrous jump, as shown by his assist rate moving from average for a wing to the 94th percentile, and it can’t be explained only by the 7.8 extra minutes per game he’s playing in his new home in addition to those extra opportunities, he’s making different choices on the court. But then a funny thing happened to the sixth-year veteran on his new team: He began to excel in the very areas in which his growth had plateaued for so long.Īfter averaging just 1.9 assists per game in Sacramento this season, Hield is up to 5.0 per game in Indiana. NBA players in the 2021-22 season with the greatest difference between 3-point attempts and combined non-scoring box-score stats (rebounds, assists, steals, blocks), through Feb. Hield was among the most one-dimensional shooters
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