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Blessing in Disguise

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I, for one, am happy the trade with the Hornets got pulled back. Even if 100% healthy I felt that Knecht and an unprotected FRP AND a pick swap was just too much for a guy who replicates someone we already have in Jaxson Hayes. Factor in the injury history and it really becomes a no-brainer. For me.

Thankfully, divine intervention was also able to convince the front office, as well. I’m sure Dalton and Cam would rather not have been traded but no better way to learn the at the NBA is first and foremost a business than by being involved in a trade that doesn’t happen.

Look in at the trade in hindsight, and reading between the lines in the myriad of clickbait news articles published about it, one starts to realize a few things:

1) This trade, while made for Luka, was as much about maximizing what’s left of LeBron’s window as much as anything else. LeBron is the small ball center in most lineups without AD and this would have been lessened with the acquisition of Williams.
2) Luka and Hayes share a fondness and Luke has advocated trading for Hayes at multiple points during his time in Dallas. Makes you wonder who leaked the “story” about this being a trade to appease Luka?
3) Hayes is playing some of his best basketball ever right now. Again, I feel like a broken record on this one, Williams was a decent center on a bad team. In his very small sample size he put up OK numbers but the Hornets have barely been in playin contention since his arrival. Injuries to LaMelo (and Williams) has certainly played a part in all that…but it is fair to wonder what impact he would have on winning on this team.
4) Lastly, this shrinks the amount of integration we need to put Coach Reddick through, he now just has to find a role for nova super star Luka.

While messy, I truly believe this is the best outcome. Even if we move forward as-is I’m OK with Hayes and Morris as the backup with DFS and LeBron being small ball 5s when needed. Backup bigs are the first position to get played off the court in the playoffs. If Wood ever plays he’ll still have a role. We can waive Cam, or wait for rosters to expand, if we feel an urgent need for another big man.

Me? I’ve been, and will continue to be, cool with Hayes.

Why?

He’s a high fly act for a center. Faster and more mobile than most bigs but he needs to take advantage of this better. He’s an underrated passer (currently averaging 1 assist for the season but since moving into the starting five he’s averaging 2/game which is great for how much he handles the ball, he just finds the open man and moves the offensive possession forward). Every meaningful stat is up since he assumed full time starter duties. He’s on a minimum, expiring contract so keeping him ought not to be a challenge this summer.

Like Williams, he fits into Luka’s timeline and can augment LeBron right now. Only we didn’t ever have to give up a damn thing to find this out. C’est la vie, and here’s hoping this motivates DK4 to find the early season vibe he had going.