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

[Roscoe Sheed]

Personally I think that is pretty unprofessional by Presti

I agree- borderline Doc Rivers-like

[SweaterBae]

I imagine he regrets having said that publicly.

[Blazing_royale]

I forgot he was even on the team. They barely played him

[mowcrowbar]

Personally I think that is pretty unprofessional by Presti

We live in a very unprofessional world now. You got CEOs wearing slippers and a shirt to conferences and smocking weed on podcasts. This doesn't surprise me anymore.

[amcoolio]

He was cooked earlier in the season in Charlotte. He was so slow, couldn't move on either end of the floor. I think Micic could have helped OKC in the playoffs. He and Mann will easily be rotation players next year for us

They really should have paid for PJ Washington, but I suppose Dallas gave the better pick

[ThunderBolt]

Personally I think that is pretty unprofessional by Presti

I agree- borderline Doc Rivers-like

Presti doesn’t make these comments had Hayward not been so vocal about his frustration during exit interviews. Not saying either person is right or wrong but that’s why it happened.

[dc]

I think Sam is being respectful by pretending like Hayward was anything other than a cap move

Also LOL @ saying "I'm learning". Dude, it's like you're bazillionth year as the GM. He's talking like it's his first year doing this but he knows damn well why he did this.

[jbsays]

I'm not following. What did he say that was so unprofessional. From the clip he didn't say anything negative about Hayward. He said I (Presti) missed on it. It was a low risk move since Hayward was a large expiring. It didn't work out on the court for the team and Presti said he missed on it. Would it have been more professional if he said he had made the move for cap space and didn't really care if Hayward contributed anything on the court?

[MoneyTalks41890]

If the team wasn’t open to genuinely trying Hayward out they wouldn’t have given him 17ppg in the RS and healthy minutes in the Pels series. As soon as Kenrich took his minutes in the Mavs series the team play rose. This is a deep team they didn’t have to play him at all.

[FarBeyondDriven]

I like Presti but he got too cute and he deserves to be called out on this because it might have cost OKC a chance at a championship. If he had made any number of other moves it would have improved them where this move did absolutely nothing for them this season. I understand Hayward's frustration. He only has a couple more years left and just wants to play. His issue is he hasn't been the same since the injury and recently looks like he's running with moon boots on. He needs to get slimmer and recapture some of that quickness that allows him to move and cut without the ball. I'd love for the Kings to sign him on the cheap and give him 25 mpg off the bench provided he got in better shape. He still has something to offer.

[rapluva]

In my opinion.. Gordon has been injured for a while..and the youngsters on that team deserve more time over him.. management made the del for savings and that's that.

Gordon's wife always has something to say throughout his career.. not sure why

[HotelVitale]

Surprised by the shade he’s throwing at a known classy player. It was a low risk move i thought? His wife is known to be a little outspoken, but I can’t say I blame her for defending her husband here. He’s too nice to do it himself.

Personally I think that is pretty unprofessional by Presti

I agree- borderline Doc Rivers-like

We live in a very unprofessional world now. You got CEOs wearing slippers and a shirt to conferences and smocking weed on podcasts. This doesn't surprise me anymore.

I know it's the internet age and all, but did you guys watch this? He just says that trade wasn't the right move for the team's chemistry, it didn't provide the new element what they needed to level up. Then he spends like 15 sentences trying to rephrase it to capture that it's hard but it's his job etc.

He doesn't actually say a word about Hayward and definitely doesn't throw any shade at him as a player. The whole thing is him trying to be real/honest about his struggles tinkering with an already good roster. If anything he's kinda over-performing accountability here with the emphasis on how the whole thing was his fault. 'I tried but these things are really unpredictable but it's also still my fault' is basically what he said.

[HotelVitale]

I like Presti but he got too cute and he deserves to be called out on this because it might have cost OKC a chance at a championship. If he had made any number of other moves it would have improved them where this move did absolutely nothing for them this season. I understand Hayward's frustration. He only has a couple more years left and just wants to play. His issue is he hasn't been the same since the injury and recently looks like he's running with moon boots on. He needs to get slimmer and recapture some of that quickness that allows him to move and cut without the ball. I'd love for the Kings to sign him on the cheap and give him 25 mpg off the bench provided he got in better shape. He still has something to offer.

I agree OKC could've definitely done more at the deadline, but this is exactly what Presti is refering to. Hayward is still decent and he thought he would be able to contribute as a big wing who can drive and kick and shoot, but he didn't actually do much for that particular rotation once he got to the team. Presti's little speech is about how it's hard to tell which okay/decent players will really work on your team because they only work in some settings, plus team flow and chemistry is delicate and 'textured' and 'nuanced' and all these other words he likes. Lotta trade deadline guys sound great but often they don't make much impact, you're always aiming to get a Gafford-Mavs situation but often end up with like Royce O'Neale to the Suns or Monte Morris to the Wolves.

[kenwood3333]

Don't agree on how Presti handle thie situation. Could have said things dont work out, next question. Hayward at best is just a 20min bench player for half a season. There are other younger guys on the OKC team deserve more playing/development time than Hayward.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Surprised by the shade he’s throwing at a known classy player. It was a low risk move i thought? His wife is known to be a little outspoken, but I can’t say I blame her for defending her husband here. He’s too nice to do it himself.

Personally I think that is pretty unprofessional by Presti

I agree- borderline Doc Rivers-like

We live in a very unprofessional world now. You got CEOs wearing slippers and a shirt to conferences and smocking weed on podcasts. This doesn't surprise me anymore.

I know it's the internet age and all, but did you guys watch this? He just says that trade wasn't the right move for the team's chemistry, it didn't provide the new element what they needed to level up. Then he spends like 15 sentences trying to rephrase it to capture that it's hard but it's his job etc.

He doesn't actually say a word about Hayward and definitely doesn't throw any shade at him as a player. The whole thing is him trying to be real/honest about his struggles tinkering with an already good roster. If anything he's kinda over-performing accountability here with the emphasis on how the whole thing was his fault. 'I tried but these things are really unpredictable but it's also still my fault' is basically what he said.

Fair enough- I shouldn't have commented without watching the entire segment

[MrBigShot]

She just brought more attention to something nobody would've even heard about.

[John Murdoch]

Hayward has been irrelevant since he left Utah

[ConSarnit]

Personally I think that is pretty unprofessional by Presti

We live in a very unprofessional world now. You got CEOs wearing slippers and a shirt to conferences and smocking weed on podcasts. This doesn't surprise me anymore.

There aren’t enough pearls on earth for the amount of clutching going on here. A CEO wearing slippers?
For the love of God won’t someone think of the children?

[MrBigShot]

I like Presti but he got too cute and he deserves to be called out on this because it might have cost OKC a chance at a championship. If he had made any number of other moves it would have improved them where this move did absolutely nothing for them this season. I understand Hayward's frustration. He only has a couple more years left and just wants to play. His issue is he hasn't been the same since the injury and recently looks like he's running with moon boots on. He needs to get slimmer and recapture some of that quickness that allows him to move and cut without the ball. I'd love for the Kings to sign him on the cheap and give him 25 mpg off the bench provided he got in better shape. He still has something to offer.

The assets they gave up would absolutely not have netted them a roster upgrade good enough to beat Dallas, Minny, or Denver. They aren't there yet and need more internal development from Chet/Jdub.

[doogie_hauser]

Hayward has been irrelevant since he left Utah

Gordo was never the same player after he suffered that horrific injury for The Celtics in his first game for them vs The Cavs.