Hornets might not have overpaid for Gordon Hayward

The Hornets made one of the biggest and most controversial splashes in free agency, signing injury-prone forward Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $120 million contract. The team is also waiving the final year of small forward Nicolas Batum‘s contract, worth $27 million, to clear cap space for Hayward. Due to injuries and the development of his Boston teammates, Hayward was never able to return to his aggressive All-Star Jazz form while with the Celtics.

That robust number may not have been as astronomical as initially speculated. In today’s edition of The Lowe Post podcast, Zach Lowe of ESPN suggests that the Hornets’ offer to Hayward was not significantly higher than that of some competing clubs hoping for his services in free agency. “You want to clown the contract?” Lowe is quoted as saying by RealGM. “That’s fine. Just know it’s not like the Pacers and the Celtics were offering $80MM. They weren’t offering $120MM. But my best intel is something like $105MM, $108MM, $102MM, $110MM.”

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer examines Hayward’s fit with the Hornets in a new piece. Even though Bonnell concedes that the Hayward addition is an overpay, he also contends that Hayward could supply veteran leadership to the Hornets’ young core while being by far their best player, if healthy. Hayward will be leaned on to supply multifaceted scoring and is an expert playmaker. He also will be able to convincingly slot into the lineup at small forward, power forward and even shooting guard.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

• No matter who was added in free agency, Tommy Sheppard indicated that he informed every center he spoke with that Thomas Bryant would remain the Wizards’ starter, according to Quinton Mayo of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). “Certainly probably rubbed some guys the wrong way who thought they could come in here and start,” Sheppard said.
• Beyond the NBA rumor mill, Wizards point guard John Wall has remained active during the offseason. Wall will purchase an ownership stake in the Australian NBL club the South East Melbourne Phoenix, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Los Angeles entrepreneur Romie Chaudhari heads the ownership group for the Phoenix, which also includes Cavaliers reserve guard Dante Exum, plus retired big men Zach Randolph and Al Harrington plus retired swingman Josh Childress.
• Point guard Goran Dragic and backup center Meyers Leonard are excited to return to the Heat, according to Joe Beguiristain of Heat.com. Miami prioritized re-signing both players to lucrative two-year contracts with team options for the second year. “When free agency hit, we pretty much made our quick deal,” Dragic commented. “First of all, it felt like there was unfinished business for our team and for me because, obviously, going through the ankle injury was not easy, and I feel like I could have helped in many different ways,” Leonard said.