The Oklahoma City Thunder traded for Gordon Hayward ahead of the 2024 playoffs, and he gave the team a lot of heart and a whole lot of nothing else. Yet looking back, the trade has to be viewed as a win for OKC - because of what the Thunder did next, and what they gave up to do it.
Viewed on its own, trading for Hayward was absolutely a disappointment. His versatility and scoring ability should have resulted in the ideal role player to fit in wherever the Thunder needed him. Yet it became apparent fairly quickly that Hayward's body just didn't have it anymore.
The former All-Star averaged just 5.3 points per game for the Thunder down the stretch of the season, and in the playoffs, he ended up outside of the rotation entirely. That would be the last NBA basketball he would play for his career. Trading anything for that return was a loss.
The Thunder benefited from the Hayward trade
Unsurprisingly, however, Sam Presti had more in mind than merely adding a veteran like Hayward. Behind the move was the primary goal of clearing the books ahead of free agency in the summer of 2024.
It was that summer that the Thunder used their cap space to renegotiate and extend Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, and to sign center Isaiah Hartenstein away from the New York Knicks. Those moves propelled them not only back to the top of the Western Conference but to 68 wins and a championship.
This season the Thunder continue to stand at the top of the conference, with Hartenstein starting and Joe and Wiggins continuing to provide important depth. By trading away multiple long-term contracts to get back Hayward, the Thunder may not have maximized their ability to win in 2024, but they set themselves up to be the best team in the league for at least the next two seasons.
The Thunder didn't give up much
What they gave up in that trade has not turned into some great loss, either. Davis Bertans was an expiring contract who did not stay in the NBA after that season. Vasilije Micic turned out not to be an NBA-quality player and returned to Europe. The two second-round picks haven't been missed by the Thunder.
The one player with the potential to make the Thunder regret this trade was Tre Mann, a former first-round pick who showed real flashes of scoring and playmaking once he got to Charlotte down the stretch of the 2023-24 season. If he blossomed into a quality starter, the question of whether the Thunder could have opened up cap space without giving up on Mann would have to be asked.
Tre Mann is struggling
Disappointingly for Mann, that has not come about. Mann has battled significant injuries and overall ineffectiveness over the last two seasons. He played just 13 games last season as something of a mercenary scorer off the bench, but did little other than shoot. This season, Mann has been healthier, but he is outside the rotation for the Hornets and watching his career fizzle out.
In summary, then, the Thunder made a trade that cleared significant salary cap space, setting them up to build a dynasty. They did so by giving up a collection of players and picks who each had middling value or worse, and together have been neither missed nor impressive.
Hayward might have missed, but every other part of the deal has been a runaway success. Even when Sam Presti "misses" he manages to build championship teams. And this deal has to be seen as a roaring success for the Thunder.
Another win for Oklahoma City.