Getty Gordon Hayward
The New York Knicks have already moved their biggest chess pieces this offseason. What remains is who else they can add to their current core. There are plenty of productive free agents left over, like Gordon Hayward, who the Knicks could add to their current rotation.
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley explained why he believes the Knicks should sign Hayward in a July 18 story.
“If a minimum deal is doable, though, that’s a low-percentage shot worth taking,” Buckley wrote. “His All-Star days are well behind him, but he’s still a relatively reliable source of support scoring and secondary playmaking. This was one of the least productive campaigns of his career, and he still closed it with per-game contributions of 9.8 points and 3.1 assists in 24.4 minutes, plus a tidy 46.4/41.1/74.2 shooting slash.”
Once upon a time, the Knicks’ rival, the Boston Celtics, signed Hayward to a max contract because of how good he was at his peak. At 34 years old, Hayward is not an All-Star anymore, but as Buckley points out, he is still a multi-faceted wing. He’s coming off a four-year, $120 million contract he signed with the Charlotte Hornets in 2020.
The Risk With Signing Gordon Hayward
The risk of adding Hayward should go without saying for the Knicks. Ever since leaving the Utah Jazz in 2017, he has missed substantial time in almost every season he has played. After suffering a career-altering injury in his first game with the Celtics in 2017, Hayward has consistently suffered one injury after another.
The last time he played over 70 games was the 2018-19 season with the Celtics. Even then, he spent most of that season trying to get his mojo back after breaking his leg in 2017. Since then, he’s played between 44 and 52 games. The injuries have started to pile up along with his age.
Even in a reduced role, the Knicks would likely count on Hayward missing a certain number of games. That wouldn’t be good news since Knicks’ most recent playoff elimination was partially due to injuries.
Hayward is also coming off an all-around disastrous and brief tenure with the Oklahoma City Thunder. After they acquired him at the trade deadline, he was so unreliable that the Thunder barely played him in the playoffs. He played in seven games for them in total while averaging 6.6 minutes a game.
Why Adding Gordon Hayward is Risk Worth Taking
While Hayward comes with an injury risk, signing him to a veteran’s minimum contract doesn’t come with bad ramifications. The Celtics and the Hornets had issues with Hayward because both signed him to a max contract, which did not work out. While not his fault, his injuries made it so that he wasn’t worth the money they gave him. Because they paid him that much, they had to wait until the end of his contract to trade him.
The Knicks can afford to give him a veteran’s minimum contract because if it doesn’t work out, they can simply get rid of him. At this stage in his career, Hayward will likely not get another max contract. If he were to work out for the Knicks, he’d give them a boost. If it doesn’t, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.