Sam Presti on Hayward Trade: "I missed on that. That's on me."; Hayward's Wife Responds

[sol537]

OKC should have brought in Gafford instead of helping Mavs get him... they would be in the WCF right now with a decent shot at getting to the finals... ouch.

[Zeno]

I got no problem with Hayward's wife defending her husband even if she is wrong. Big whatever there for me. But Presti seems a little disingenuous to me. Bottom line, he didn't want to invest future flexibility in this year's team and did this trade instead to create flexibility while pretending he was investing in it. I actually don't hate the patience but it wasn't something to me that had a shot of working for this year.

Not sure how Presti should have responded, but when you say you missed it, while talking about a person, thats a bit weird. His wife is fine to respond, thats reasonable to do.

It did look like Micic dump, which I didn't like, I am huge Euroleague fan, and not like I believe Micic is some kind of good NBA asset, but would have been interesting to see him on a good team AFTER he adapts to different environment, teams, rules, country, everything...

This is almost one of those things were I extend the guy, but then use amnesty clause before extension kicks in. And ok, it is not really, because after signing, they have seen him in practices and stuff, they had better idea of what they actually signed. But I looked it up now, he played 361 total NBA minutes in Thunder Uniform, number is actually higher than I thought it would be, but you give up on a vet you just signed from Europe after 360 minutes. He was good shooter in EUrope, his biggest problem in Oklahoma is that he couldn't shoot, but thats often what happens to Euros at first, speed, 3 point line and their minutes is different, the rythm is not the same and needs time for adaptation. ANd maybe Micic will be trash shooter in the NBA, but he is 36.4% career 3 point shooter in Euroleague on high volume, not great, but he can be fine. I don't know, I was just disappointed they traded him, Gordon for Micic is almost a lateral move and this was the move they gave up a pick also. It was a miss.

I am not invested in the careers of euro league players at all but in general, I find the way nba teams approach giving players opportunities to be very limited. We are constantly told large portions of the season are meaningless and that the season is too long and yet they bury players on the bench regularly and give them very limited windows to succeed in.

[UcanUwill]

I am not invested in the careers of euro league players at all but in general, I find the way nba teams approach giving players opportunities to be very limited. We are constantly told large portions of the season are meaningless and that the season is too long and yet they bury players on the bench regularly and give them very limited windows to succeed in.

Yes, I agree. I recently touched on Drazen Petrovic and how NBA success is often just a case of opportunity and luck. Imagine if Drazen Petrovic just left after he was getting no playing now, he easily could have left, its quite weird he didnt. Everyone now would have just said how he sucks and Euros sucked. But he didn't suck. Now, are there players like Petrovic who just left? Maybe not a level, but of course. Sometimes these guys get one chance if any, that can often not be enough. Danny Green was cut by post decision CAVS and already had agreed deal with Euro club, but Spurs lured him in at last second. 2 years later he was close to winning finals MVP and went to have 15 year NBA career. If not Spurs, he would have been Trajan Langdon or smth, thats it.

[Saints14]

Don't blame Hayward for being pissed he wasn't given an opportunity to show he has something left in the tank going into a contract year, he probably thought he could get one more non-vet min contract before hanging it up. But he was also clearly overpaid on his last deal. Win some lose some

[grindtime22]

OKC should have brought in Gafford instead of helping Mavs get him... they would be in the WCF right now with a decent shot at getting to the finals... ouch.

Would they be though? I doubt they are regretting the Gafford deal that much. I bet Presti would do it again without much of a second thought.

The Mavericks were -2, -8, -8, -5, -10, -25 with Gafford on the floor against OKC. He looks good and the lobs are great, but the results haven't been in the playoffs. He is solid enough to fill the minutes, but he is their 2nd best center by a significant margin. Even if you pair Gafford and Luka, the Mavericks are getting outscored by 9.3 pts per 100 in the playoffs.

[Lalouie]

generally wives are not the best in situations like this but if what she said is true,,,

she and he are both correct, it's on him but it sounds like a this public admittance besmirches gordon. if you the player are attached to a goof, no matter where it comes from, there's tire tracks on you too. the league knows what's what but imagery and perception are a powerful thing

plus she's pretty good look'n. more good look'ner than presti

[Tor_Raps]

OKC should have brought in Gafford instead of helping Mavs get him... they would be in the WCF right now with a decent shot at getting to the finals... ouch.

Would they be though? I doubt they are regretting the Gafford deal that much. I bet Presti would do it again without much of a second thought.

The Mavericks were -2, -8, -8, -5, -10, -25 with Gafford on the floor against OKC. He looks good and the lobs are great, but the results haven't been in the playoffs. He is solid enough to fill the minutes, but he is their 2nd best center by a significant margin. Even if you pair Gafford and Luka, the Mavericks are getting outscored by 9.3 pts per 100 in the playoffs.

If you're using +/- statistics to judge Gafford then you are clearly out to lunch here (no offense). A trade isn't always judged on the play of a single player but how it effects the entire team as a whole. Anyone watching the Mavs could see the drastic difference.

If you wanna be stuck on statistics, them becoming the number 1 defensive team in the nba after the deadline should say everything. Having Gafford on the team allows the Mavericks to have 48 minutes of very good Center play, which they didn't have before. Lively gets to feast on other teams backups.

[Johnny Bball]

Dude... this was a mistake from the get go and it was easy to see.

Just because he admits it now doesn't show that he learned anything, because he's talking about the wrong reasons it was the wrong trade to make..

[dc]

Don't blame Hayward for being pissed he wasn't given an opportunity to show he has something left in the tank going into a contract year, he probably thought he could get one more non-vet min contract before hanging it up. But he was also clearly overpaid on his last deal. Win some lose some

Yeah, dude got paid in a major way when the Hornets came out of left field with that offer.

Most people figured it'd be a Batum like situation where the guy would get good again once he left Charlotte, but the dude really looked kind of washed.

[DrModesty]

Hayward was given plenty of opportunity in OKC. He was given a consistent role that had the potential to be turned in to a bigger role, but played utterly passively. He had 0 attempted 3's in his first 6 games despite the offense generating open 3's for him consistently, and even on his drives he would meekly pass out to players that weren't even open themselves.

Then in the play offs he took it to the next level, turning down every shot available to him, actively playing himself out of the rotation when it was obvious that there was a significant chance that a spot would open up for a player that steps up (Giddey benching). Hayward was the clear and obvious choice to bring in to the starting lineup if Giddey failed in the playoffs, so for him to not get that role speaks volumes.

And then in the exit interviews he complained about his role like he didn't squander what he was given. If the guy had played with any sense of purpose, he could have been playing 30mpg at the end of that Dallas series, but instead got himself DNP's.

[Wingy]

I'm more offended by his comment on them being "early in this thing" and saying that he's basically just passively watching the team. Brother, you could have won a chip this year if you weren't more infatuated with your stash of draft picks than winning rings. We could all see that OKC was primed for a run well before the trade deadline. We could also see the glaring flaws that wouldn't cost a ton to improve.

It's malpractice not to go for a title when it's right there for the taking and you wouldn't even have to give up core pieces to do so. At the trade deadline he had THREE playoff runs of JDub and Chet left on rookie contracts, before their payroll is going to out of control. You don't have an infinite amount of time to take advantage of star players on rookie scale deals. You spend some of those picks to bring in top tier complimentary pieces while you can afford to do so. It's much much harder to pull off when you've got 3 guys on max/supermax deals. Presti seems oblivious to this.

Yeeesss!! You (and some others) get it.

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if they don’t get a title out of this pick haul of legends. Presti is clearly a top tier FO leader, but I get the feeling he has a hard time finishing the deal. A little too in love with, and a little too proud of his creations.

This is the summer to **** or get off the pot for Presti, but I completely agree he blew a legit chance at this season.

Not going to watch the vid, but I read an article with most of his quotes on Hayward. What a crock of disingenuous crap. “I’m learning.” Please.

[EmpireFalls]

Screw Gordon Hayward.