With a new season of rebuild set to be on the horizon, the Charlotte Hornets are preparing themselves to further prepare for their future.
Per Marc Stein, the Hornets are ready to “take calls” around Gordon Hayward, one of the key veterans of their team that could gain significant interest most especially from title teams.
These plans came in with no such surprise. As an expiring asset for the 2023-24 season, Hayward is an obvious chip to be moved by the franchise. Despite key provision of veteran presence and leadership, the former All-Star has been swarmed by injury bugs in Charlotte, only appearing in 114 total games in his three seasons with the team that started in 2020.
To add up, Hayward is only averaging 13.7 points this season, the lowest since his sophomore year back in the 2011-12 season. He is also draining a career low 30 percent from three-point distance.
Unfortunately, by having Hayward, it would be difficult for Charlotte to offload him. The ex-Butler star is set to earn over $30MM until next year, which is truly a heavy one to shoulder for teams looking for cap flexibility.
