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00:00 The dust of the trade deadline has settled and we now know the final moves of the Charlotte Hornets.
00:09 Gordon Hayward was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Trey Mann, Vasali Micic, Davis Bertans, and a 2024 second round pick,
00:19 which I believe has to be Houston's Oklahoma City controller.
00:23 So I believe they will be trading Houston's 2024 second round pick to Charlotte and a 2025 second round pick.
00:32 That pick could be one of about four or five. We don't have details on that yet.
00:37 So what do we make of the trade? Well, first of all, I'm going for straight A- for this trade.
00:45 Three weeks ago, we thought Gordon Hayward might get a buyout.
00:48 And now you are getting back Davis Bertans, who has a very tradable contract due to his early termination option,
00:56 where he's only due to make 5.25 million if you waive him before the 1st of October next year.
01:02 That means he can be traded around time of the draft as salary relief for a lot of these teams flirting with that second apron.
01:08 So there's a little bit of value just in keeping him around for his contract.
01:12 Two, Trey Mann, a young player, former first round pick, has shown flashes in his career.
01:19 But now the truth is, OK, so you're too good. Like he can't get in the rotation, but they're one of the top teams in the West.
01:26 There is some crossover with Nick Smith Jr. there. I don't think those two will be able to coexist in a backcourt together.
01:32 They are both pull up jumpers, not great passes, not great defenders, slight small bodied,
01:38 even though they're both 6'4", they're very, very thin. But you don't need to worry about coexisting lineups and matchups just yet for Charlotte.
01:45 You're in a rebuild. You are looking at just, can I find talent? And this team needs some shot creation in the second unit.
01:52 I think Trey Mann can bring that this year. So interested to see how he gets on with a chance with some more playing time.
02:00 And Vassali Micic out of Serbia. Micic has been one of the most impressive players in Europe for a long time.
02:09 He's taken a little bit of a struggle getting acclimatized in OKC, but we're talking about a EuroLeague MVP, Final Four MVP twice.
02:18 He's an exceptional player, proven in Europe. And the Hornets have struggled to have a backup, reliable point guard, a veteran point guard for a long time now.
02:28 So he has a chance to come in and really claim that backup point guard spot. So going into next season and even the year after,
02:34 which is he is a team option in the third year of his contract, he could be in Charlotte for the long term.
02:40 Equally, he could be someone who's moved on this summer. But I like that he'll get a chance on this team to play here.
02:48 The draft compensation, those two second round picks. Again, if you told me that this trade was, you know, just salary filler for a second,
03:00 I would have taken that heading into the deadline because there just weren't that many landing spots for Gordon Hayward.
03:05 I will say, and to give myself a pat on the back, right, I did a mock trade podcast with Ryan Stiles, Ryan Stiles from Locked On Thunder.
03:14 And we talked about this exact trade apart from weird Pokusevsky in the mix instead of Mieczysz.
03:22 And I would actually potentially, I mean, this is debatable. Mieczysz may have more value as the better player,
03:29 but for Oklahoma City, this was a salary dump. They were looking to move salary and they were able to free up more cap space next year by moving Mieczysz instead of moving Poku.
03:38 So this could be a situation where Oklahoma City are happier to get off Mieczysz's long term money over Poku, who's an expiring.
03:46 And for Charlotte, they are getting a guy who could be locked in and have a role on this team.
03:52 So it could work out for both teams. I think it's a good move for Gordon Hayward.
03:56 I think he fits really well in OKC. And the return here is a little bit above what I was thinking they would get.
04:06 So for that reason, like I said, I'm going straight A-. I think this is a really good place when there was not a big trade market for Gordon Hayward.
04:15 I think they did really good to get this deal.
04:17 deal.