Gordon Hayward Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hornets Notes: Schnall, Plotkin, Jordan, Roster

August 5th, 2023 at 2:36pm CST by Rory Maher

New Hornets co-chairmen Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin gave an exclusive interview to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer on Thursday following their introductory press conference.

The chat covered a number of topics, including the duo’s desire to build a sustainable winner, fan engagement, the team’s roster, and their respect for former majority owner Michael Jordan, who retained a minority stake in the franchise and recently penned an open thank you letter following the finalized sale.

Here are some highlights from Boone’s interview, with is worth checking out in full for Hornets followers:

On Jordan initiating the conversation about selling the team last August:

“The way he has dealt with us in this process — he told us a year ago, ‘You two guys are the right guys to buy the business,'” Schnall said. “You are basketball guys. I believe you can do this, and I want you to do this.’ And he stuck to his word. He was committed. That’s when we started down this path.”

How Schnall’s experience as a minority owner of the Hawks will impact his decision-making with Charlotte:

“I think being in and around the NBA for eight years, watching how owners make decisions, how general managers make decisions, how the CBA works, how trades work, how you build a roster. And I’m a business builder as a living, and I take all that in to think about and work with Gabe, and the rest of the group on how do you build a team? What’s the strategy for building a team over the long term, and create success over the long term?

“Obviously, I wasn’t making the decisions in Atlanta, but I was in the room. And we went through a rebuild. We made a decision to break it down. … Now you can debate if we did everything right. I don’t think we did. But we did a lot of things right. We had the right idea at that time.

“… I think all of that is information and Gabe and I spent a lot of time talking about it. Now that we are in the position of making those decisions or helping make those decisions, what are the right decisions to make at different times in order to try to build a sustainably successful franchise. And that’s what we are trying to do. We are not trying to win the title in one year and then be terrible two years later. Like any sustainable business, how do we build something that is a contender year-in and year-out.”

Plotkin’s thoughts on the current state of the roster:

“I think it will be a competitive team. When you look at the Eastern Conference, it’s pretty powerful at the top of the conference and there’s a bunch of teams somewhere in the middle parts where I think we can compete within. And we’ll see how that plays out. I think there are really a lot of good parts on the roster. Really, we liked what we saw out of Brandon (Miller) at summer league. His shot wasn’t falling, but that is not something that we are really worried about. He’s got great mechanics, he’s got a great release, he shot the ball incredibly well at Alabama.

“And we just signed LaMelo (Ball) to the max. And he was playing great basketball last year before he got injured. Usually that third, fourth year is an inflection year and we just didn’t get to see it from him because he wasn’t really on the court. And we were just speaking with Mark Williams. When he came into the starting lineup, there was a palpable difference on how this team defended. Being a part of this team for the last four or five years, there’s been no rim protection.

“And so to anchor yourself with a really high basketball IQ player on the back end of your defense, who can alter shots and shoot the basketball a little bit and rim run, that’s really important. The pieces are all there. We’ll see how Miles (Bridges) looks as he comes back. He was great the last season we had him, and there are other young parts that can elevate. And, of course, you have Gordon (Hayward) and Terry (Rozier), who are kind of consummate professionals. There’s a lot of pieces. They’re young and we think they will continue to develop.”

Southeast Notes: Hornets, J. Richardson, D. Robinson, Gallinari

August 2nd, 2023 at 7:29pm CST by Rory Maher

Restricted free agent P.J. Washington and the Hornets remain at an impasse in contract negotiations and there have been “no indications” of that changing anytime soon, league sources tell Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

Boone examines the team’s roster and depth chart entering the 2023/24 season, writing that No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller projects to come off the bench behind veterans Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward.

Assuming Washington is on the roster, he’ll have the inside track for the starting power forward position, with Miles Bridges suspended for the first 10 games. However, Boone wonders if the Hornets will eventually pivot to Bridges if they get off to a slow start.

2021 first-round picks James Bouknight and Kai Jones will likely find minutes tough to come by, Boone adds.

Here’s more from the Southeast:

Appearing at the Heat‘s youth camp on Wednesday, returning swingman Josh Richardson said Damian Lillard is the best player he’s played against, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays. Lillard’s status, of course, has been one of the primary stories of the offseason, as the longtime Trail Blazers star requested a trade to Miami. Richardson, a free agent signee, said his game is malleable and he’s ready for whatever role he’s given. “I mean, you know how (head coach Erik Spoelstra) Spo is, he’s kind of like, ‘I can put you out there and do anything,’” Richardson said of not sweating how the roster or his role ultimately could shake out. “So it’s kind of what I’m good at. I’m kind of a jack of all trades. Our talk was good before, but I’ll guess we’ll see more concrete once the games get started.”
In a subscriber-only mailbag for The Sun Sentinel, Winderman notes that while losing Max Strus‘ shooting could make Duncan Robinson more valuable to the Heat, the latter certainly isn’t irreplaceable. Robinson’s name has popped up in trade rumors for several months and he could be used as a salary-matching piece in a possible Lillard deal.
Wizards forward Danilo Gallinari, who was acquired from Boston as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade, says he’s looking forward to competing against the Celtics next season, according to Daniel Donabedian of Clutch Points. “I can’t wait to play against Boston,” Gallinari said on the Italian A Cresta Alta podcast. “When the schedule will be unveiled, I’ll put an X on the games we will play at Boston against the Celtics.” Gallinari grew up idolizing Celtics legend Larry Bird and hoped to win a title in Boston, but missed all of last season after tearing his ACL last year.

And-Ones: Mannion, Qualifying Offers, 2024 Draft, D-Lo, Hayward

June 25th, 2023 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Warriors guard Nico Mannion is signing with Baskonia in Spain, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets, calling it a done deal. Mannion played the last two seasons in his home country of Italy with Virtus Segafredo Bologna. He played 30 games with Golden State during the 2020/21 season after being drafted in the second round.

Because the Warriors issued a two-way qualifying offer to Mannion in 2021 and again in 2022, they still control his RFA rights in the event that he decides to return to the NBA. That would change if they decide not to extend that QO this year or in a future season.

We have more news from around the basketball world:

Good news for restricted free agents in future seasons — there’s a 10% increase in qualifying offers that teams must make to those players or else they become unrestricted. However, according to Mike Vornukov of The Athletic (Twitter link), it doesn’t apply to restricted free agents this summer — instead, the stipulation in the new CBA begins with this year’s rookie class. In another tweak, offer sheets for future restricted free agents will have a new deadline. If a team that has to make a decision on whether to match an offer sheet receives it before noon ET, that team has until 11:59 p.m. ET the next day to match. If it’s received after 12 p.m. ET, that team has until 11:59 pm ET two days later.
Now that the 2023 draft is behind us, what might the 2024 draft look like? ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo provide an early glimpse of next year’s draft class, doing a mock draft that includes both rounds. They predict G League Ignite guards Ron Holland and Matas Buzelis will be the first players off the board.
With the Lakers drafting Jalen Hood-Schifino, it may decrease the possibility they will try to re-sign free agent D’Angelo Russell, Cydney Henderson of USA Today writes. Gordon Hayward‘s future with the Hornets is very much in doubt with the addition of forward and No. 2 pick Brandon Miller, Henderson also notes.

Southeast Notes: Young, Murray, Washington, Wizards

April 26th, 2023 at 8:57am CST by Arthur Hill

Trae Young saved the Hawks‘ season with a game-winning shot Tuesday night, and their series with the Celtics no longer seems like a mismatch as they head back to Atlanta, writes Jeff Schultz of The Athletic. Young drilled a 30-footer with 2.8 seconds left to cap off an improbable victory in Game 5. He scored the team’s final 14 points on a night where he played 44 minutes and didn’t check out of the game in the second half.

“I’ve been owning the moment my whole life. That’s what I do,” he said.

The heroic performance was gratifying for Young, who got off to a miserable start in the series, making 14 of 40 shots and committing 10 turnovers in the first two games in Boston. He has scored 35 and 38 points in the last two contests and has the Hawks believing they can pull off an upset.

“You look at his eyes and there was a calm,” coach Quin Snyder said. “Sometimes that happens in the middle of a storm.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Hawks won Game 5 without Dejounte Murray, who was serving a one-game suspension for making contact with an official following Sunday’s contest. At Tuesday’s shootaround, Murray indicated that his issues with referee Gediminas Petraitis date back to his time in San Antonio, but added that he takes responsibility for the incident (video link from Coley Harvey of ESPN).
Re-signing restricted free agent P.J. Washington will likely be an offseason priority for the Hornets, according to Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez of The Charlotte Observer. After not receiving a rookie scale extension last fall, Washington responded with his best NBA season, averaging a career-high 15.7 PPG and ranking fourth in the league in clutch field goal percentage. Charlotte’s front office considers Washington part of the team’s young core and he has expressed a desire to stay there, Melvin-Rodriguez adds. She examines the entire roster, stating that Dennis Smith Jr. will likely get a new contract this summer, Kelly Oubre‘s fate will depend on what offers he gets in free agency and Gordon Hayward may not be moveable right away but could be more attractive at the trade deadline due to his expiring contract.
As the Wizards search for a replacement for dismissed general manager Tommy Sheppard, the NBA issued a memo stating that VP of player programs John Thompson III and assistant GM Brett Greenberg are currently running the basketball operations department, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.

Hornets Notes: Smith, McGowens, Hayward, Washington

March 4th, 2023 at 6:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hornets‘ offense was clicking before LaMelo Ball‘s ankle injury on Monday, but now coach Steve Clifford needs to find a new approach for the rest of the season, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The team scored just 91 points Wednesday as its five-game winning streak was snapped, marking just the fourth time since December that it failed to reach 100.

“It’s important that we understand that once you have a way to play, you’ve got to commit to that,” Clifford said after Wednesday’s loss. “From now to the end of the year, we’re not going to be scoring 135 a night anymore. We’ll play a lot better than this offensively, but we’re going to have to defend, rebound and be low turnover every night.”

Terry Rozier has taken over for Ball as the starting point guard in the two games since the injury, with Kelly Oubre sliding into the backcourt as his partner. The first guard off the bench has been Dennis Smith Jr., who has shown a notable improvement on defense since signing with the Hornets last offseason.

“I was out of the league because I got waived because (of injury and) I couldn’t play for the rest of the season, and going into the summer I didn’t have a deal or anything in place,” Smith said. “So everybody was like, ‘Oh, he can’t play, he’s not an NBA player.’ This, that and the third. It didn’t really mean much to me when they saying that because I know who I am. But to be able to come in and prove the people that believe in me right, I think that means a lot.”

There’s more from Charlotte:

Rookie guard Bryce McGowens had his two-way contract converted to a standard deal this week, but his play of late hasn’t matched his promotion, Boone writes in another Observer article. McGowens opted for extra practice time after Friday’s game, in which he misfired badly on two of his three shot attempts. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the rookie wall,” McGowens said. “I would say it’s just getting back to the basics and the stretch that I had in midseason, just getting back to that, staying confident. I feel like these past couple of games it wasn’t there and I feel that.”
In a recent appearance on the Hornets Nest podcast, Gordon Hayward characterized his time with the franchise as “unlucky.” He notes that Charlotte has been plagued by numerous injuries since he was traded there in 2020.
P.J. Washington is listed as probable for Sunday after missing the last four games with a foot injury, Boone tweets.

Lakers Notes: Trade Deadline, Westbrook, Irving, Reaves

February 6th, 2023 at 9:05am CST by Arthur Hill

Now that Kyrie Irving is headed to Dallas, the Lakers are left to search for other ways to upgrade their roster, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register.

There don’t appear to be any other All-Star level talents available for what L.A. has to offer, so Goon believes the options now involve role players such as Mike Conley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley from the Jazz, Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott from the Spurs or possibly Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier and Mason Plumlee from the Hornets.

The Lakers are also in a difficult situation because the player they most want to part with, Russell Westbrook, has a contract that will likely require three or four players in return to match salaries, Goon adds. Utah, Charlotte and San Antonio may not be interested in making such a complex deal when there are simpler options with other teams.

Last month’s acquisition of Rui Hachimura — and the likelihood of a new contract this summer — will cut into L.A.’s projected cap room. A rival executive told Goon that the Lakers want to limit this year’s hit on their repeater tax, which also reduces their options in the trade market.

There’s more on the Lakers:

Although Westbrook has been better this season, teams remain reluctant to take on his $47.1MM contract, Goon adds. The same executive says potential trade partners still want at least one future unprotected first-round pick attached in any Westbrook deal. Goon also speculates that the Lakers’ interest in Irving may have opened old wounds with Westbrook that could affect locker room chemistry if he remains with the team.
The Lakers received permission from the Nets to talk to Irving’s representatives when he was pondering his player option last summer, but they didn’t follow up, sources tell Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Even though L.A. appeared to be the most likely trade partner at the time, Irving’s agent, Shetellia Riley Irving, never heard from any member of the team’s front office. Buha’s sources say the Nets informed the Lakers that they wouldn’t have accepted Westbrook in an Irving deal, so his only path to L.A. was to decline the option and sign for the mid-level exception, which the Lakers didn’t believe he would do. L.A. reportedly tried again in early July and during Summer League, but Brooklyn wasn’t interested in dealing Irving at the time.
Austin Reaves talks about the difficulty of breaking into the NBA as an undrafted free agent during an interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Southeast Notes: Isaac, Beal, Hayward, Dedmon

January 13th, 2023 at 1:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Jonathan Isaac‘s return to the court on Wednesday, nearly 900 days after he last played in an NBA game, was a success, writes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Playing on a minutes limit for the Magic‘s G League affiliate, Isaac scored 15 points in just under 15 minutes while also chipping in five rebounds, an assist, and a blocked shot.

The veteran forward – who tore his ACL in August 2020 – referred to the game as a “great milestone” for him, but said he still had some things to work on as he prepares to return to the NBA.

“I’m not going look at it too deep because it was my first game back,” Isaac said. “I’m glad I got a couple of buckets to fall. It was really for my conditioning. I definitely got tired, so that’s something I got to keep working on.”

Isaac will play another game for the Lakeland Magic on Saturday, according to Dan Savage of OrlandoMagic.com (Twitter link). Orlando’s G League team hosts the Westchester Knicks on both Friday and Saturday, but Isaac obviously isn’t cleared for back-to-backs yet, so he’ll play in the second game of the set.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

The Wizards announced on Thursday (via Twitter) that star guard Bradley Beal has been cleared to resume full basketball activities after having his left hamstring strain reevaluated. As Josh Robbins of The Athletic points out (via Twitter), when Beal was cleared following a similar injury to his right hamstring last month, he played in a game six days later. Given Beal’s repeated hamstring issues this season, the team will likely be at least as cautious this time around, Robbins says.
Injuries have limited Hornets forward Gordon Hayward to just 21 games so far this season, which he acknowledged is “definitely frustrating,” per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Hayward has missed Charlotte’s last five contests due to a hamstring strain, but head coach Steve Clifford is hopeful the veteran will be back within the next week, Boone writes. “He wants to be out there so badly, but we’ve just got to make sure that he’s healthy when he comes back,” Clifford said. “A hamstring is a tricky one. The one thing we don’t want is he comes back a little bit early and it’s a month or it’s five weeks. And we can’t afford that.”
After serving a one-game suspension for a sideline outburst, Heat center Dewayne Dedmon will have to take on the challenge of winning back the team’s trust, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. As Winderman observes, several former Heat players – including Meyers Leonard, Dion Waiters, and James Johnson – were traded not long after being disciplined by the team in some form or another.

Cavs Rumors: Bey, Hayward, Love, Ross, Possible Targets

January 10th, 2023 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

After discussing several possible Cavaliers trade targets on Jake Fischer’s podcast last week, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com expanded on the club’s hunt for a wing in a subscriber-only story on Tuesday, taking a closer look at why Mavericks swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. appeals to Cleveland, why the club is reluctant to part with former lottery pick Isaac Okoro, and much more.

Here are a few highlights from Fedor’s story:

Pistons forward Saddiq Bey “has some fans” in Cleveland, but there’s still a gap between how the Cavaliers and Pistons value him, writes Fedor, noting that Detroit’s asking price would have to come down significantly for Bey to be a realistic target for the Cavs. That line of thinking applies to a number of other possible trade candidates on the market, including Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma.
Although Gordon Hayward‘s skill set makes the Hornets forward a logical target for the Cavaliers, his $30MM salary makes him a long shot for Cleveland. Kevin Love ($28.9MM) would likely have to be included in a deal for Hayward, and trading Love isn’t a possibility the team has internally considered, according to Fedor, who has previously reported that there’s mutual interest between the Cavs and Love in continuing their relationship beyond this season.
If the Cavaliers liked Magic wing Terrence Ross, they could have acquired him “multiple times” in the past, Fedor writes, implying that the asking price was one Cleveland could have easily met. Fedor said on Fischer’s podcast last week that the Cavs don’t have much interest in Ross.
Fedor identifies Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith and Spurs veterans Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson as players worth monitoring in Cleveland’s search for wing help. He adds that the Cavs would have interest in Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson and Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate, but there’s no indication that either player will be available at this season’s trade deadline.

Gordon Hayward Plans To Return On Friday

December 16th, 2022 at 11:38am CST by Rory Maher

DECEMBER 16: Hayward plans to make his return to the Hornets’ lineup on Friday, agent Mark Bartelstein confirms to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

DECEMBER 15: Hornets forward Gordon Hayward, who has missed nine consecutive games with a left shoulder fracture, is “hopeful” he’ll be able to return to action on Friday against the Hawks, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

According to Wojnarowski, Hayward will determine whether he’s ready to go after Friday’s shootaround.

Hayward also missed eight straight games early last month with what the Hornets called a left shoulder contusion. That apparent discrepancy was a point of contention for Hayward’s wife, who criticized the organization for not protecting its players after her husband was diagnosed with a fracture, not a contusion.

The 32-year-old has always been a productive player when healthy, and this season has been no different. Through 11 games (32.3 MPG) in 2022/23, he has averaged 16.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 4.4 APG on .445/.381/.767 shooting.

Hayward’s potential return will be a welcome sight for both the player and the team, as star point guard LaMelo Ball just returned on Wednesday. Ball has appeared in just four games thus far for the Hornets after dealing with a couple of left ankle sprains.

Injuries have been a significant issue for Hayward since he joined Boston as a free agent in 2017, but if he can stay healthy for the next few months perhaps he’ll boost his stock. He has one more year left on his current contract, which will pay him $31.5MM in ’23/24, so he’ll be a free agent in 2024.

Gordon Hayward’s Wife Criticizes Hornets Over Handling Of Injuries

November 26th, 2022 at 7:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

Gordon Hayward‘s wife has accused the Hornets of failing to protect injured players, writes Bryan Fonseca of The New York Post. Robyn Hayward criticized the franchise via her Instagram account.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Friday night that Gordon Hayward has suffered a fracture in his left shoulder that will keep him out indefinitely. Robyn Hayward pointed out that the team called it a left shoulder contusion, which isn’t nearly as serious.

“He actually has a fractured scapula… that they had him play with last game… that’s why he couldn’t move his arm up in the last game,” she wrote. “… Everyone who knows Gordon knows he has one goal and that’s to win and play the right way, he’s the most truthful player/person you’d find. If he’s not going to play it’s for something more than a bruise.”

Robyn promised to “stop there and not get into prior things,” but she shared the story of another Hornets player who had a similar experience.

“I’m over them not protecting players. Just was talking with a young player’s mom, and she was saying the same thing,” she added.

Injuries have been a recurring problem for Hayward since he suffered a fractured tibia and dislocated ankle in 2017. He played 44 and 49 games in his first two seasons with Charlotte after being acquired in a trade and has appeared in 11 so far this season. He’s making a little more than $30MM this year and has one season left on his contract at $31.5MM.