The next Splash Brother? With Klay Thompson’s departure, the Warriors were left with a huge void for the sharpshooter role. Sure enough, they added several new pieces this summer hoping to find the right successor and become a high-volume shooting team once again. However, filling Klay’s shoes was a daunting task and fans were uncertain if anyone they acquired was good enough to do it. That was until tonight’s preseason game! With all eyes on him, Buddy Hield stepped up to the occasion and shocked everyone with a near-perfect shooting exhibition, giving Dub Nation a reason to praise Joe Lacob’s genius move.

While Hield had an underwhelming preseason debut last weekend against the Clippers where he scored only five points, he came ready to play tonight for the Kings encounter. In an incredible showing against his former team, the sharpshooter went off for a game-high 22 points. Moreover, he was perfect for his first 12 minutes on the court as he shot 5 of 5 from deep range and made two more field goals without a miss. And it wasn’t until late in the third quarter that he missed his first shot of the night!

However, that would also be his only miss of the game as he made another three in the final quarter to lead the Warriors to victory. Well, many fans were hoping for Hield to be the next Splash Brother when he joined the team. And the veteran hooper delivered on the expectations, at least tonight. Moreover, Steve Kerr had already revealed his vision of how he planned on utilizing Hield’s talent, “One of the reasons we are excited to get Buddy Hield is because we will run some of the same stuff that we ran for Klay for Buddy.”

With a similar skill set to Klay Thompson, the head coach claimed, “Draymond and Steph will be looking for him on the perimeter when they’re playing with him.” And the plan paid off tonight. As expected, Dub Nation was ecstatic.

Dub Nation deems Buddy Hield a “great replacement” for Klay Thompson

Sure enough, fans were hyped to see their new star playing at a high level and they even commended the Warriors owner for adding Hield to the roster, “Buddy Hield was a genius signing choice.” Well, Lacob was one of the contributors in the first-ever six-team trade that brought the 31-year-old to the Bay Area on a two-year $21 million deal. And adding a sharpshooter with a career-40% efficiency from deep range is already starting to look like a brilliant move by the owner.

Meanwhile, several fans deemed him the perfect successor to Klay, saying “Buddy Hield is a great Klay replacement” while one netizen even claimed, “BUDDY HIELD >>>>> KLAY THOMPSON.” Although he was great tonight and lived up to the hype, deeming him greater than Klay might be a bit of an overstatement. While they are both great shooters, Thompson constantly produced at the biggest stages under immense pressure and led the Bay Area side to four championships.

Meanwhile, Buddy Hield made his first playoff appearance just last season in the eighth year of his career. So, until he proves himself in the postseason, it might not be entirely fair to put him in the same ranks as Klay.

However, his 22-point outing has instilled immense hope in the Dub Nation as comments like “This team is better than last season” and “Buddy Heild is gonna piss off a lot of Laker fans when he has career nights against this frauds.” Flooded the social media.

And believe it or not, the Warriors roster this year could in fact be better than last season despite Klay Thompson’s departure because apart from Buddy Hield, they have also added De’Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson. And if they are all able to perform anywhere close to what Hield did tonight, Stephen Curry and Co. might have a legitimate shot at getting back into the title picture. Thoughts?

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.