General managers in sports typically don’t come right out and own their mistakes. They can pretty easily blame something else (coaches, players, the salary cap, injuries, etc.) for why a decision they made didn’t work out.
Thunder GM Sam Presti notably did not do that on Tuesday while discussing his midseason acquisition of small forward Gordon Hayward.
After the veteran pretty thoroughly criticized his time with Oklahoma City, Presti on Tuesday agreed with him — and it was weirdly refreshing.
“I missed on that,” Presti said. “That’s on me. But I’m learning.”
The Thunder nabbed Hayward from the Charlotte Hornets on February 8 for Dāvis Bertāns, Tre Mann, Vasilije Micić, a 2024 second-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick and cash considerations. The thinking was that the veteran could carve out a smaller role for himself while providing a positive influence in the locker room.
That situation just didn’t work out for Hayward, who explained his frustrations to reporters after the Thunder’s season came to an end against the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs.
“It’s not what I thought it would be”
Gordon Hayward on his role with the Thunder pic.twitter.com/9FVCJVpHCo
— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) May 19, 2024
“I feel like as a player I have a lot to offer,” Heyward said. “I just wasn’t given much of an opportunity to do that, and I thought I was going to get that opportunity.”
Now an unrestricted free agent, it seems clear he won’t be returning to OKC. Especially after Presti’s comments on Tuesday.
“In Gordon’s defense, actually, I agree with him on a lot of that,” Presti said of the trade. “We were really surging at that time and it’s hard to bring somebody in — I think he used the phrase ‘the train is moving.’ That’s accurate. Especially when we’re asking him and other players to do some things that maybe are different than what they have done in the past. “
