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The Oklahoma City Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday night when they suffered a 117-116 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, but it's clear the future is bright for them. General manager Sam Presti has made a plethora of great moves to build one of the best rosters in the league, but one move he did not hit on was his recent trade for Gordon Hayward.
At the trade deadline, the Thunder's big move was to add a veteran wing in Hayward who was expected to come in and shore up their rotation. Instead, Hayward never really found his fit with the Thunder, and he failed to record even a single point in their series against the Mavericks. After their loss in Game 6, fans quickly took to social media to roast Presti for thinking that his move for Hayward would work out.
OKC had the opportunity to buy in on a run now with most of their roster on low salaries and were so afraid of someday having to pay people they let it pass them by and facilitated their own elimination by helping their eventual opponent add what they needed to beat them.
— Ryan Bernardoni (@dangercart) May 19, 2024
How did the Mavs get Dereck Lively? By trading down 2 spots in the draft… with the Thunder.
Then, OKC used Davis Bertans (who came from DAL in the Lively deal) to get Gordon Hayward from Charlotte, while DAL got P.J. Washington.
And OKC facilitated the Daniel Gafford trade.
— Yaya Dubin (@JADubin5) May 19, 2024
What they should have done is trade for Andre Drummond instead of Gordon Hayward. Use one of their picks. However, the truth is Presti will never ultimately use those picks. It’s all a ruse. Media sure loves
It. Picks!!! And his owner is too cheap anyhow. Alas. Go Wolves tomorrow https://t.co/3XIWaWUJjP— TwolvesBlog (@TwolvesBlog) May 19, 2024
A friendly reminder that the Thunder's big trade deadline move was trading for Gordon Hayward.
He scored a total of 0 points this postseason. pic.twitter.com/aKKFSjlA8v
— Scott Reichel (@ReichelRadio) May 19, 2024
Now that OKC's season is over let's figure out why tf Gordon Hayward was brought in. The guy looks disinterested in basketball. 90% chance he retires.
— Zachary (@osuzack) May 19, 2024
Sam Presti's Gordan Hayward trade did not work out for the Thunder
In concept, the Thunder trading for Hayward did make a bit of sense. Oklahoma City is a young team, so adding another veteran wing who can play on both sides of the ball made a lot of sense. The problem was that Hayward simply never found his fit with the team, making it a move that was very tough to justify.
A quick glance at OKC's roster, and it was clear that they needed more help at the center position, rather than another wing to join their already crowded group on the bench. Sure enough, the Thunder's interior presence on both sides of the ball wasn't all that great in the postseason, making it clear that Presti and company not only made a bad move for Hayward, but they also missed a glaring weakness on their roster.
Hayward is set for free agency, and he almost certainly won't be returning to Oklahoma City after his disastrous stint with the team. Hayward still has value as a bench wing, but the Thunder simply have no need for him as we just saw in their postseason run. They need to shore up their center position and find someone who can come in and truly solidify the team's starting lineup in a way that Hayward was unable to.
The good news is that the Thunder have a lot of assets at their disposal in order to improve their roster, but after a few years of conservatively building up his team, it's time for Presti to start cashing in on all his hard work and make some big moves. Hayward didn't pan out, but the Thunder's future is still very bright, and if he makes the right deals this time around, they will have a great shot of winning a title next year.
