Hornets send Gordon Hayward to Thunder
FILE – Charlotte Hornets forward Gordon Hayward brings the ball upcourt against the Denver Nuggets during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired often-injured small forward Gordon Hayward from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for guard Tre Mann, forward Davis Bertans, point guard Vasilije Micic and second-round draft picks in 2024 and 2025.
The deal became official late Thursday night.
The Hornets signed Hayward to a four-year, $120 million contract in 2020 hoping he would help them become a consistent playoff team. But that hasn’t happened as Charlotte is headed toward an eighth straight season without a trip to the postseason, the longest current skid in the NBA.
Hayward’s injuries have contributed to that.
He has missed 43% of Charlotte’s games (128 of 296) since his arrival, including half of this season’s contests. The Hornets are 10-40.
View this post on Instagram
If Hayward is able to return from a left calf strain, he could help the Thunder, who entered Thursday’s games tied with Minnesota and Denver for the best record in the Western Conference (35-16).
Hayward, who turns 34 in March, has averaged 14.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 25 games this season while shooting 36.1% from 3-point range. He’s averaged 15.5 points over his 14-year career.
The Hornets continue to rebuild.
Charlotte also traded P.J. Washington to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday for Grant Williams, Seth Curry and a 2027 first-round draft pick. To make room on the roster, the Hornets announced they’ve waived 2021 first-round draft pick James Bouknight, Ish Smith and Frank Ntilikina.
Last month the Hornets unloaded Terry Rozier to the Miami Heat in exchange for Kyle Lowry and a future conditional first-round draft pick earlier this month. Lowry has not played for the Hornets and is expected to take a buyout.
Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak said at that time Charlotte would be interested in moving more players before the deadline as the team looks to reshape its roster, and it did just that in dealing Washington and Hayward.
The Hornets did not trade Miles Bridges, who had a no-trade clause in his contract. That means Bridges, who scored 41 points on Monday and 45 on Wednesday, will remain with Charlotte at least through the end of this season.
Bridges becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer and the Hornets own his Bird rights, which would allow them to exceed the salary cap by signing him to a maximum-salary deal.
The Thunder selected Mann with the 18th overall pick in the 2021 draft. He was a crowd favorite but his playing time was reduced as the team added better players. He started 26 games as a rookie in 2021-22, when he averaged 10.4 points a game. That year, he scored 30 points in a win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden and scored a career-high 35 points in a loss to Boston. He has started five games since that season.
The Thunder acquired Bertans from the Dallas Mavericks in a draft-night deal last year, and he has played sparingly. He’s a career 39.8% 3-point shooter in eight seasons.
Oklahoma City acquired the rights to Micic from Philadelphia in 2020. The Thunder brought him from Europe and signed him in 2023. The Serb is an outstanding passer who is averaging 3.3 points and 2.5 assists in 12 minutes per game this season.
