Latest news with #GordonHayward
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jayson Tatum Wanted To Leave The Boston Celtics Because Of One Player
Jayson Tatum Wanted To Leave The Boston Celtics Because Of One Player originally appeared on Fadeaway World. Back in 2017, the Boston Celtics made two major moves that would define their future, though not in the way anyone expected. First, they used the No. 3 overall pick to draft Jayson Tatum, a polished scorer from Duke. Then, in free agency, they signed All-Star forward Gordon Hayward to a lucrative deal. At the time, Hayward was entering his prime and coming off an All-Star season with the Utah Jazz. Tatum was the rookie with promise, while Hayward was expected to be the go-to forward. But fate intervened, and everything changed on opening night. Years later, on FanDuel TV, Hayward opened up about the dynamic between him and Tatum. He acknowledged that Tatum felt like he might have to leave the Celtics because of him. 'I think, like I said, I was coming off of, I was an All-Star, felt like I was at the brim of my career. Like, we played the same position." "Coach Stevens probably would have been drawing plays for me instead of drawing plays for JT or JB or whoever else me or Kyrie. And, you know, because I got hurt, now he's getting the ball, he's getting more opportunities, and that sometimes is all it takes.' Hayward suffered a devastating leg injury just five minutes into his Celtics debut, an injury so gruesome that it instantly changed the Celtics' hierarchy. Jayson Tatum was thrust into the spotlight as a rookie and seized the opportunity, eventually helping Boston reach the Eastern Conference Finals that same season. In short, Hayward admitted that if he hadn't gotten hurt, Tatum wouldn't have had the ball in his hands as often, or as soon. The offensive pecking order would've prioritized Hayward, a proven star with experience under Brad Stevens from their Butler days, over the unproven rookie. From Tatum's perspective, that likely raised serious questions about his future. If the Celtics were building around Hayward, Kyrie Irving, and later Kemba Walker, where did Tatum fit in? It wasn't personal, it was positional. Tatum and Hayward both operated as wings who needed touches and space to create. There's only so much oxygen in an NBA offense, and Hayward being healthy might've delayed Tatum's breakout. That tension, while never explosive, was quietly real. And according to Hayward's comments, it was enough for Tatum to contemplate leaving Boston altogether early in his career. Thankfully for the Celtics, Hayward's injury opened the door for Tatum, and Tatum never looked back. The two would end up sharing the court from 2017 to 2020, as Hayward eventually returned to action. But by the 2020 season, the tide had shifted completely. Tatum was already an All-Star, having earned his first selection that year, and he never looked back after that. He's now a six-time All-Star, a four-time All-NBA First Team selection, and the face of the franchise. He helped lead Boston to an NBA championship and is widely viewed as one of the league's top five players. Though he is currently recovering from an Achilles tear suffered during the playoffs, Tatum's place as the Celtics' cornerstone is unquestioned. Ironically, what once seemed like a roster logjam may have been the unexpected twist that launched a superstar's story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
OKC Thunder jersey history No. 33 - Gordon Hayward (2024)
The Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers worn by the players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Thunder Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder forward Gordon Hayward (33) during the second half of their game Sunday, March 24, 2024 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-93. And while those Supersonics jerseys may not remain part of the franchise history should a new team be established in Seattle as was the case with the return of the Charlotte Hornets, they are part of the Thunder's history today. Advertisement For this article, we continue with the 33rd jersey number in the series, jersey No. 33, with 17 players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise. The 17th of those players did so in the Oklahoma City Thunder era, forward alum Gordon Hayward. After ending his college career at Butler, Hayward was picked up with the ninth overall selection of the 2010 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. The Indianapolis, Indiana native would play the first seven seasons of his pro career with the Jazz, and also played for the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets before he was dealt to OKC for his last season in the NBA in 2024. During his time suiting up for the Thunder, Hayward wore only jersey No. 33 and put up 5.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference. This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder jersey history No. 33 - Gordon Hayward (2024)
USA Today
04-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
On this day: Gordon Hayward agrees to sign; Griffin, Lucas born; Gene Conley passes
On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team landed All-Star forward Gordon Hayward in 2017 after the Indiana native penned a letter in The Player's Tribune announcing his decision to leave the Utah Jazz to sign with the Celtics. Earlier in the day, his agent had denied reports by ESPN NBA insider Chris Haynes that the unrestricted free agent would sign with Boston. But the former Butler player opted for a largely ill-fated reunion with his college coach, Brad Stevens, who had left the collegiate ranks to join the Celtics in the same role in 2013. "There were so many great things pulling me in that direction," Hayward explained. "There was the winning culture of Boston, as a city — from the (Red) Sox to the (New England) Pats to the (Boston) Bruins. There was the special history of the Celtics, as a franchise — from (Bill) Russell to (Larry) Bird, to (Paul) Pierce, and it goes on." "And of course, there was coach Stevens: Not just for the relationship that we've built off the court — but also for the one that we started building on the court, all of those years ago, in Indiana," he added. It is also the birthday of former Celtic wing Adrian Griffin, born this day in 1974 in Wichita, Kansas. After playing in college at Seton Hall, he went undrafted in 1996. He eventually signed with Boston in 1999. He played two seasons with the Celtics, averaging 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists with the team. Ex-Boston guard/forward Al Lucas was also born on this date in 1922. A graduate of Fordham, the 6-foot-3 wing played just two games for the Celtics in the 1948-49 season, putting up 1 point per game in his short stint with the team. Finally, it is also the day we lost forward Gene Conley in 2017. One of a handful of people to win a title in Major League Baseball as well as the NBA, Conley also played for the Boston Red Sox, Boston (then Milwaukee) Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies in MBL. He also played for the New York Knicks and Hartford Capitals of the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Washington Tapers of the American Basketball League as well as the Celtics. Conley played four seasons for Boston, his rookie campaign of 1952-53, and three more after five seasons away to play baseball. He won titles with the Celtics between 1959 and 1961 and averaged 5.3 points and 6.8 boards per game off of the bench -- rest in peace.
New York Times
03-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Winners (Hawks), losers (July) and more from NBA free agency's first days
Remember when NBA free agency was an event, something that dragged on for days as players took meetings, teams prepared dog-and-pony shows for prospective free agents and entire front-office staffs huddled up in cramped hotel rooms in The Hamptons? It was only nine years ago that Kevin Durant put the entire league on hold while he figured out his next destination. It was only eight years ago that Gordon Hayward did the same. (I swear to you this really happened.) And it wasn't just the stars who got this treatment; take it from somebody who flew cross-country to make a sales pitch to Solomon Hill. Advertisement Welcome to the speed chess version of the same game. We're a few days into free agency, and aside from the annual drawn-out saga of restricted free agents, we're basically done. Having prepped for those aforementioned dog-and-pony shows while working in an NBA front office, good riddance. But I think there's another key reason we aren't seeing as much of that game anymore: Players of that caliber just don't become unrestricted free agents, or if they do, it's a set piece that they'll rejoin their current team. One of the consequences of the more generous extension terms in the collective bargaining agreement is that it's in the interests of both players and teams to continue extending the contracts of most star and near-star players. As a result, both the market of unrestricted free agents and the number of teams with the salary-cap space to pursue them have rapidly diminished. This year, the Brooklyn Nets were the only team that began the summer with max-level cap space. In a related story, the best player to change teams via free agency this summer was zero-time All-Star Myles Turner. The second-best, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, didn't start for his old team and probably won't for his new one. All the action has moved to the trade market, and the hot part of the trade market isn't in summer; it's the deadline in February. In the last three years, that's when talent such as Jimmy Butler, Luka Dončić, De'Aaron Fox, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Mikal Bridges all changed teams, as well as countless starter-caliber players a rung or two below on the hierarchy. Once upon a time, teams made all their moves in June and July and then played out the season; the trade deadline was reserved for smaller tweaks. Occasionally, it works out that way, but much less often. Advertisement Now, we're seeing a new phenomenon where some teams spend the summer prepping their rosters so they can wheel and deal the first week in February: by adding middle-class contracts or giving short balloon contracts to fringe players just so there is tradeable salary on the books come winter, or by lining up future draft picks so the Stepien rule doesn't torpedo a blockbuster trade, or by managing the tax aprons so their midseason trade flexibility isn't compromised. Sadly, we must conclude that it's a February league now, and when I decided to write a column on the biggest winners and losers of free agency so far, it wasn't hard to pick out the biggest loser: July. No superstar is making a TV show out of their free-agency decision anymore, because there's no 'Decision' to televise. That said, we still had plenty of action in the first few days of free agency. Perhaps it wasn't as monumental as Durant ditching the Thunder for Golden State, but a few teams shifted their fortunes this week. Let's look at who won, who lost and who was somewhere in between: Caw-caw! Under new GM Onsi Saleh, the Hawks had a fantastic draft week, acquiring Kristaps Porziņģis in a deal to be finalized soon and then burning the New Orleans Pelicans by getting an unprotected first-round pick in 2026 that could land one of the top picks in a loaded draft. They followed it up with stellar work in the free-agent market. Atlanta used its $25 million trade exception from the Dejounte Murray trade to land Nickeil Alexander-Walker from Minnesota at a price just above the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, essentially squeezing out all their competition, and then added Luke Kennard on a one-year deal. Those two additions fortify what was an extremely shaky shooting and ballhandling situation in the non-Trae Young minutes, and in Alexander-Walker, the Hawks added a second lockdown backcourt defender to go with stopper Dyson Daniels. The Hawks also seem likely to get some small bit of compensation for letting Clint Capela go to Houston in a sign-and-trade. Advertisement Now, for the fun part: Could Atlanta do more? Capela's outbound salary is enough to offset Alexander-Walker's, which means the Hawks could keep that $25 million trade exception alive for something else. They would have to work quickly since it expires on July 6, the first day deals can be ratified in the new cap year, and they would have to send out some salary to stay below the first-apron threshold (where they're hard-capped due to signing Kennard with the nontaxpayer MLE), but it's something to ponder. In the event things stay less spicy, the Hawks still have back-end work to do on the roster with their $5.1 million biannual exception and veteran's minimums; the Hawks are an estimated $7.4 million below the tax line with at least two open roster spots to fill and could use another small forward and a stretch four. There's a lot of buzz about this team's offseason activity. (See what I did there?) After a strong draft yielded Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Sion James, Charlotte has low-key been busy in the trade market. We don't talk about the Hornets much, but this has been a solid summer. Somehow, Jeff Peterson's front office turned Jusuf Nurkić into Collin Sexton and a second-round pick, solving a glaring shot-creation deficiency in the non-LaMelo Ball minutes. They also secured Spencer Dinwiddie as a solid backup on a minimum deal, and he can start in a pinch if Ball's flimsy ankles take him out of action. The Hornets cashed out their Mark Williams stock just before they had to pay him, getting the pick that became McNeeley plus a likely late 2026 first from Phoenix, and then magnified that trade's value by turning incoming salary-match Vasilije Micić's potential buyout into two second-round picks from the Bucks and Pat Connaughton. Connaughton is another buyout candidate, especially after Charlotte agreed to a deal with Tre Mann for three years and $24 million. (That's probably the one move they made where I'm a little skittish.) Everything is still in progress, though. Charlotte has 15 contracts and four rookie draft picks and might want to bring back veteran locker room sage Taj Gibson. The Hornets can use their entire non-taxpayer MLE and stay below the tax and seem likely to use it to soak up unwanted salary in a trade. They also don't have a real starting center yet, although Mason Plumlee brings his left-handed free throws back to the Queen City. Don't mind us, we're just quietly bringing back 14 of the 15 players who dominated the league last season. The Thunder air-dropped little-used Dillon Jones onto the Wizards' roster to make room for first-rounder Thomas Sorber, re-upped Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell on new team-friendly deals, extended MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and now just need to figure out extensions for Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. Advertisement Oklahoma City is a 68-win defending champion that is also somehow $1.2 million below the tax line. All that changes in 2026-27, and some hard decisions will soon follow. But few recent champions have ever been in a better position to repeat. Orange County's most famous theme park will have an enthusiastic regular visitor after the Clippers added Brook Lopez to a two-year deal for $18 million, a relative steal for a rim protector who also bombs away 3s. The Clippers' backup center situation behind Ivica Zubac immediately went from yikes-bad to arguably the best in the league; LA is still under the tax(!) and has one roster spot left for a veteran's minimum contract. Then the real fun begins: Hammering out terms on a possible extension for Norman Powell. We knew the Celtics would be taking a step back this year, but yikes. Jrue Holiday, Porziņģis and Luke Kornet are gone, Al Horford seems like he might be next, and the Celtics still are looking at deals to trim salary further. Boston knew this day was coming; the Celtics were openly talking about it even as they were smashing Dallas in the 2024 NBA Finals. The repeater penalty in the 2023 CBA basically demands that Boston finish 2025-26 below the luxury-tax line, and they still have to whittle down $20 million in salary to get there. That said, the Celtics have taken the scalpel about as painlessly as possible so far. Dumping Holiday and receiving two seconds was a minor miracle, and Boston can likely take back significant draft capital if deals emerge for mainstays like Derrick White, Sam Hauser and Jaylen Brown. Everything is on the table in a 'gap' year while Jayson Tatum rehabs a torn Achilles. Newcomers Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang shouldn't get too comfortable, and what would it take for you to drive off the lot with a lightly used Baylor Scheierman? Advertisement The real challenge, perhaps, comes next summer. Having torn so much down, how can the Celtics quickly build it back up so they can thrive again with a healthy Tatum? I've mentioned this before, but the Pacers painted themselves into a corner once they extended Andrew Nembhard last summer. By taking Nembhard's salary from $2 million to $18 million for 2025-26, Indiana put itself in a position where paying Myles Turner any kind of market rate would certainly put it into the tax. (That extension, by the way, paid Nembhard two years and $56 million in new money; he's a good player, but this was roughly double what Alexander-Walker got in free agency … for a guy they already had under contract.) Setting things up to be a tax team works better if your team is owned by Steve Ballmer as opposed to Herb Simon. We'll never know if the Pacers would have shelled out if Tyrese Haliburton hadn't been injured, but they've also never paid a cent of luxury tax in their history. The smart money was on that streak continuing. The Pacers, however, still have outs to survive this, particularly in the trade market. The first step is to turn Turner's departure into a sign-and-trade with Milwaukee, thereby generating a $24.5 million trade exception that they can use until next July. It likely will cost them a second-round pick, but it's worth it. Indiana also reacquired its 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans just before the Haliburton injury, greatly lessening the worst-case scenarios for this coming season. That reacquisition also makes possible my favorite fake trade: Indiana sending a lightly protected 2027 first to Dallas for Daniel Gafford. He would need to fit into a trade exception created by a Turner sign-and-trade, but Gafford is a starting-caliber center who's tough and runs all day, plus he's signed for four years, and his money won't put Indiana into the tax. The Pacers' front office has also shown in the past that they can dig out of tight spots. They'll use this year to let Bennedict Mathurin explore the limits of his game, figure out what they have in 2023 lottery pick Jarace Walker and scavenge for other roster upgrades. With roughly $22 million in room below the tax, plus their nontaxpayer MLE and biannual exceptions, Indy has the means to get a reasonable stopgap center. But it will be a step down from Turner and will make everything harder when the Pacers try to recreate their 2025 playoff magic in 2026-27. Milwaukee made the best worst move of the offseason when it decided to stretch Damian Lillard's contract to sign Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract. It also cost the Bucks two second-round picks (spent to salary dump Pat Connaughton) and their nontaxpayer MLE, all to replace Lopez with Turner at the cost of what is effectively a maximum contract ($22.5 million in dead cap for Lillard and $24.6 million in first-year salary for Turner). Advertisement Was all that worth it for a team that lost in the first round of the playoffs a year ago? In Milwaukee, the answer is yes, as long as it keeps Giannis Antetokounmpo from demanding a trade. The Bucks have chased their superstar forward's approval to stay in town with ever-more desperate moves to mortgage their future for the present; the Bucks have little young talent in the cupboard and don't control their first-round pick until 2031. What they do have is one guy who can carry them to the playoffs on his back, even if the surrounding talent seems unlikely to let them win anything of note while there. While the right logical move would be to move off Antetokounmpo for a fortune in draft picks and young talent (including returning some of the picks they sent out), it's not clear if the Bucks will ever choose that door without Antetokounmpo insisting. Desperately chasing Turner was the least-bad option remaining. I can't call the Lakers 'winners' until we see Dončić's John Hancock on a contract extension and until we know for sure that everything is cool with LeBron James. Also, the Lakers seem focused on 2026 cap room, which, as I noted above, isn't really a great mechanism to acquire elite talent anymore (just ask Philadelphia). They have two All-NBA players on their team right now, so maybe focusing a bit more on the present would be a solid plan. That said, L.A. did about as well as it could with its nontaxpayer MLE by splitting it between Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia. It's possible that they found a starting center for this year and a starting small forward for next year in the same exception. The Lakers can still use their $5.1 million biannual exception to add another player, and it won't even take them into the tax. That's a big deal on a team that was plagued by the awfulness of the supporting cast around its two superstars a year ago. You still wouldn't call the back end of L.A.'s rotation good, but it's an improvement. The Lakers are also sitting on $41 million in expiring money in Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber, but they probably can't take a big trade swing until the 2026 draft, when they can put three firsts into a deal (2026, 2031 and 2033) instead the lone first they can right now. We gave up another first to avoid the luxury tax! The fourth one of the Jokić era! Yay? I get some of the enthusiasm about Denver's secondary moves to fill out the bench. Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valančiūnas are all massive upgrades on the flotsam that passed for a second unit a year ago. Advertisement But they traded an extremely valuable asset — a 2032 unprotected first-round pick — in a swap of forwards that turned Michael Porter Jr. into Cam Johnson. You can nitpick small differences in their games, but this was a deal whose sole driving inspiration was avoiding paying the luxury tax again. That's a sad way to operate while the best player who will ever wear a Nuggets uniform is still in his prime. If you don't think this is bad, just consider: What else could the Nuggets have done with that 2032 pick if they had actually been looking at deals to make the team better, rather than just ones that let them tread water while avoiding spending money? Here's the thing, though: Jokić is so good that this team is a legitimate contender; the Nuggets gave the Thunder all they could handle in the second round in May and have some reinforcements this time around. It's just sad to think of how much opportunity has been squandered by the Nuggets constantly using draft picks to dump money. The one time they used future picks to actually build their team, they landed Aaron Gordon. (Top photo of Trae Young and Jayson Tatum: Maddie Malhotra / Getty Images)
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hornets continue to build, bringing back veteran guard
The Charlotte Hornets appear to be putting together the right pieces around LaMelo Ball to make a playoff push in 2025-26. On Tuesday, they retained the services of a veteran guard to put around Ball in Tre Mann. The former Florida Gators star signed a three-year, $24 million deal with the Hornets, according to ESPN NBA Iinsider Shams Charania. The 24-year-old Mann was drafted in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2021 after becoming a five-star recruit in high school. He was a first team all-SEC selection with the Gators, where he spent two seasons. Advertisement Following two-plus years with Oklahoma City, Mann was dealt to Charlotte in 2024 alongside Davis Bertans, Vasilije Micic and two second round picks for Gordon Hayward. He saw his scoring jump from 3.8 points per game to 11.9 with the Hornets, and the momentum carried over into this year. Mann posted a career-high 14.1 points per game, shooting 91 percent from the free throw line and 40 percent from the 3-point line in 13 games after suffering a back injury in November. The injury, a herniated disc, put him on the sidelines for the duration of the season. Charlotte will likely insert Mann into a backup role behind Ball at the point guard position, pairing him with Josh Green, Grant Williams and Jusuf Nurkic on the second-line. The Hornets drafted Kon Knueppel in the first round of the NBA Draft and also have Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges.
