Portland Trail Blazers: Why the Blazers should steer clear of a Gordon Hayward move

Gordon Hayward was linked as a trade target on the Lowe Post Podcast. Despite his play, it feels like a move the Portland Trail Blazers should stay away from.

For a team with just one Conference Finals appearance in the last 19 years, there’s an unusual aura surrounding this year’s version of the Portland Trail Blazers. If there’s truly reason to consider this season title-or-bust, the Blazers are likely one move away from truly making that happen.

On the Lowe Post Podcast, ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks provided groundwork for one potential move surrounding Celtics forward Gordon Hayward. In return, the Trail Blazers would be giving up a package including 2017 first-round pick Zach Collins, Trevor Ariza, and a draft pick of some sort.

With all due respect to Hayward — if the NBA had a Comeback Player of the Year award in 2019-20, he would have certainly been in the running — does Hayward truly fit a need worth, well needing in Portland?

Hayward’s production in the regular season was excellent; he tied for the most efficient season of his career, easily his most productive since his days in Utah. But in what’s becoming somewhat of a trend, Hayward’s odometer looked spent by the time the postseason rolled around.

Gordon Hayward effectively played the role of “zone buster,” finding small seams and spaces to get shots off during the Eastern Conference Finals, particularly when the Heat overpursued on players like Jayson Tatum. But as the deciding game wore on, it became clear that he didn’t quite have the legs.

One play in particular comes to mind: Hayward made a smart cut that put him right in Daniel Theis’ peripheral. From point blank range, Hayward missed a wide-open shot that would have brought his team to within one.

That play won’t define Hayward, but did leave an indelible mark. He’s a brilliant player who simply hasn’t been able to stay healthy with the lights on brightest. At some point, it seems the Blazers are merely watching games with a checklist that reads:

1. Can he flat out score more points than he gives up?
2. Does he have a history of leg injuries?
3. Does he fulfill No. 1 and No. 2 at the same time?

If he does, he’s probably a contender to be a Blazer. In half of his postseason appearances, Hayward has failed to average double figures. And to note on that Heat-Celtics series one more time, Hayward seemed to lack the foot speed to make Miami’s zone pay when they got overzealous on closeouts.

Instead, Miami’s rangy defenders closed up distance quickly, leaving Gordon Hayward to take off-balanced midrange shots instead of full-on takes to the basket.

That’s not to sound overly critical. To a degree, it’s understandable. Hayward missed 12 of 17 games in this postseason alone due to a grade III ankle sprain, and leg injuries have hampered the back end of his prime.

But if the Blazers are going to make a trade, could they get someone who fills all of the 3-and-D mantra? And the Blazers are a team who, historically, haven’t done themselves much of a favor when it comes to Playoff positioning.

Can you imagine Gordon Hayward playing 35 minutes a night in pursuit of a final seed, then being asked to battle in a few grueling 7-game series?

Not sure if you’ve noticed: load management isn’t a word in the Blazers’ vernacular. Even as a fan of his, that’s not something one necessarily wants.

It’s in a way, laughable to imagine a Portland Trail Blazers starting unit of Lillard, McCollum, Hayward, Anthony, and Nurkic. On offense, they’d keep scorekeepers busy. But defensively? There are more holes than a fancy pool table.

As Lowe and Marks make note of, perhaps it moves the needle and guarantees a Playoff spot for the Blazers at the very least. But in the postseason, the voracious hunt for favorable 1-on-1 matchups takes full precedent. That’s another movie we’ve seen too often.

Perhaps one of the few benefits is that the Trail Blazers could spend that money elsewhere, if they don’t have faith that a player like Zach Collins is the answer. He was indispensable as a role player during Portland’s postseason run two springs ago. But since then, he has struggled with health. Hayward is the NBA’s No. 16 highest-paid player, but his lofty $34.2 million deal would be expiring after this season.

Perhaps that frees the Portland Trail Blazers to truly go spending in the summer of 2021, finally providing Damian Lillard with a top-to-bottom roster befitting a player of his stature. Hayward is still a player capable of producing right around an All-Star level.

If it takes trading for him, and a regular season full of 140-135 final scores to make that happen for Lillard, maybe it’s the right move. But it’s not one that feels idealistic in this life.