Was going through Buddy Hield’s basketball reference and found this trend. The season after Buddy Hield was traded mid-season, the team getting rid of him always goes on their best playoff run in a decade plus. He’s been traded 5 times so far in his career with 4 of them taking place mid-season. 3 of the 4 cases of a mid-season trade have already settled, while the 4th has not because he was traded this current season. Lets go through the examples.

Proven Examples

New Orleans Pelicans

• Traded from Pelicans to Kings in February of the 2016-2017 NBA season. In the following 2017-2018 season, the Pelicans won 48 games and reached the western conference semi-finals. They last reached the playoffs 3 seasons before but the last time they had reached the western conference semi-finals was 2007-2008.

Sacramento Kings

• Traded from Kings to the Pacers in February of the 2021-2022 NBA season. In the following 2022-2023 season, the Kings won 48 games and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The last time they reached the playoffs before that season was the 2005-2006 season and they haven’t made the playoffs since.

Indiana Pacers

• Traded from the Pacers to the 76ers in February of the 2024-2025 season. In the following 2025-2026 season, the Pacers won 50 games and lost in 7 games of the NBA Finals. The were in the eastern conference finals the year before, but it was the first time they had reached the Finals since the 1999-2000 season.

Upcoming Example(s?)

Golden State Warriors

• Traded from the Warriors to the Hawks in February of the 2025-2026 season. The Warriors are in the play-in this season and made the conference semi-finals two of the previous 3 seasons. Therefore, the Warriors are clearly due to reach the conference finals or NBA Finals next season for the first time since the 2021-2022 season.

Potential Gray Area, Philadelphia 76ers

• Traded from the 76ers to the Warriors in the offseason, between 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons. This likely does not count at all because he was not traded mid-season like the obvious past examples. However, there is a chance it could somehow count for last season and lead to the 76ers getting out of the play-in and going on a playoff run these playoffs or even next season if the offseason were to count as a 2025-2026 season trade. The 76ers last reached the conference semi-finals in 2022-2023 but haven’t reached the conference finals or NBA finals since the 2000-2001 season.