The initial excitement associated with the Gordon Hayward trade slowly fizzled to nothing by the time the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season ended.
The Thunder acquired Hayward from the Charlotte Hornets at the trade deadline with the hopes of him being an immediate contributor. Instead, his stint was uneventful.
The 34-year-old averaged just 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 17 minutes. He shot 51.7% from 3 but on 1.1 attempts. He was scoreless in the playoffs and totaled three minutes in the final three games.
Hayward labeled his time in OKC as disappointing and frustrating, citing a lack of consistent minutes and touches for his subpar play. In his end-of-season press conference, Sam Presti expressed a similar sentiment.
“I missed on that. That’s on me,” Presti said about the Hayward trade. “But I’m learning. I’m trying to learn this team. I’m trying to learn the pace of the team a little bit. I’m just trying to be a great observer of the team as it’s going through these paces, knowing that it’s really going to change on its own.”
Presti said he might’ve underestimated Hayward’s transition from a top-scoring option to a bench piece. It also didn’t help that the 34-year-old missed large chunks of time with a nagging calf strain.
“I think it was a bit of a tough situation,” Presti said. “To go from always starting to coming to a team that was starting to surge quite a bit, that has a different way of playing.
“Just wasn’t able to get going quite to the level that I think he wanted to. He helped us get to the No. 1 seed. He was in the rotation. He had some nights where he had to start. I think he did help our rebounding quite a bit.”
Hayward’s wife, Robyn Hayward, spoke out against Presti’s “I missed on that” comment, which went viral on social media in the aftermath.
“Why trade for someone and not play them?” Robyn commented on an Instagram post about Presti’s remarks. “Missed it by not integrating him. … Before the trade, Gordon told Sam he didn’t think this trade made sense. So how can you miss when the player told you?”
Gordon Hayward’s wife Robyn Hayward reacts to Sam Presti’s comments from today: pic.twitter.com/KVWVVOn535
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) May 28, 2024
What could’ve been a quiet divorce has turned ugly for the Thunder and Hayward. Even though the veteran wing didn’t work out in OKC, at least the franchise can take solace in the $35 million cap space this offseason it created with the deal.
