TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[DanSchwartzgan]

Thing is Hayward isn't a bad player when healthy. His defense is a little suspect, but he's as dynamic of a scorer as we could feasibly get. But he's been out the last 2 weeks (7 games) with a shoulder injury. He's been averaging 51 games a year the last 3 years, and almost all of his missed games come at the end of the year due to him breaking down. 

Unless CHO gives a guy like Mark Williams, PJ Washington, or Rozier, then any Hayward deal makes me queasy.

I think the core of this would have to be THJ for Hayward.  Neither plays D, so no give up there.  Hayward is a much better initiator and helps with creating O for himself and others in ways THJ just can't.  Two of Luka/SD/Hayward on the floor at all times would be a big help.  If you could be assured of good health, you probably wouldn't need a 'third creator' outside of bench depth.  Financially, two years at $61mm seems better than three years at $54mm.  If THJ was a turd, let's eat the turd more quickly rather than nibbling on it for three more years.  

To your point, the key to the deal is who else is involved.  THJ doesn't salary match, so more outgoing has to be included.  I suspect most of us would love to move on from McGee, but Charlotte probably isn't the team to dump him on with all of the bigs they have.  That also means they aren't a great landing spot for Powell.  In fact, with all of their young bigs, I think we should probably target the one that best fits alongside Wood.  If Wood/Maxi works, but only for limited minutes, what is the thing on Charlotte that feels most like Maxi?  I think its PJ Washington primarily and Kai Jones secondarily.  

I think I'd target THJ/Bullock for Hayward/Washington.  I don't know that more minutes for Green and Frank is any worse than continuing to play Bullock.  It is just so hard to know how Hayward's injury history and large salary impacts his value.  Washington seems like a big ask, but his free agency status probably lowers his value a bit.  If that doesn't work, Kai Jones is probably a year or two away.  He didn't hit his 3's at all in the summer, but did quite nicely in the G-League last year.  There is some upside there.  Ultimately, the secondary part of the deal probably ends up mattering more than the THJ/Hayward swap in the long run.