Trade Deadline Tracker: Thunder Swaps Draft Capital with Mavericks
Although it was quiet leading up to Thursday's trade deadline, deals picked up quickly this morning. Several significant deals occurred before 10:00 a.m. CT, including one by the Oklahoma City Thunder to kick deadline day off.
This tracker will keep you up-to-date on all of the official trades made by Oklahoma City.
Thunder Acquires Gordon Hayward
Again, the Thunder made a splash on Thursday morning by acquiring veteran Gordon Hayward from the Charlotte Hornets. To bring the 33-year-old in, Oklahoma City sent out Tre Mann along with Davis Bertans for salary matching purposes. It was later reported that Vasilije Micic and two future second-round picks were also included in the deal.
Making north of $30 million this season, Hayward will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. This is another win for OKC, as that's a significant amount of expiring money. Although he's often injured, a healthy Hayward will likely become a top-six rotation player on this team.
Swapping Draft Capital with Dallas
With the Dallas Mavericks needing draft capital to facilitate a Daniel Gafford deal with the Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City stepped in to help. Given how many first-round picks the Thunder has in June's draft, the team opted to swap a 2024 first rounder for a 2028 first-round swap. This is a solid deal, especially given the 2024 first-round pick sent out is projected to be in the late twenties, while the 2028 option could be a better selection.
Overall, it was a successful deadline for the Thunder. Two roster spots were opened, while Presti was also able to delay draft capital conveying and also add a quality veteran in Hayward.
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