The Oklahoma City Thunder are going into the new season without Kevin Durant, who signed with the Golden State Warriors this offseason. According to the latest rumors, the Thunder are expected to add another superstar to pair with Russell Westbrook and one of them could be Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz.
Durant left a big gap at small forward with Andre Roberson tasked of filling it this season. Roberson slides to the position after the Thunder acquired Victor Oladipo from the Orlando Magic on draft night in the Serge Ibaka trade.
It has been suggested by many NBA analyst that Oklahoma City should trade for Rudy Gay even if it's just for a one-year rental. The Thunder are still a playoff caliber team and adding Gay would help them at least win more games.
The training camp has begun and it is possible that the Thunder are not working to get a big name via trade, at least until the February deadline. However, fans can look past that and be excited about the 2017 NBA free agency.
According to Chris Hughes of Thunderous Intentions, the Thunder should go after Hayward, who is set to become a free agent next summer. The Jazz swingman can do it all and he keeps improving every season.
"Working alongside Westbrook and Oladipo the 26-year-old would easily have the potential to push his scoring figures up into the low 20's, which goes some way to replacing Kevin Durant's 2015/16 average of 28.2," Hughes opined.
However, it should be noted that these is a mere suggestion but not farfetched since the Thunder will look to add talent. They have been linked with Blake Griffin, who is an Oklahoma City native, this offseason.
Hayward is set to test the free agent market next summer, per Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. The Jazz will have difficulty in re-signing him since they also have to give new deals to Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert.
On the other hand, the Thunder cannot replace Durant but they can have a different dimension to their game with Westbrook now at the helm. They are going to build around the five-time All-Star moving forward and he is committed for the next three years.
Before Westbrook makes a Durant move in 2019, the Thunder has to build around him and add superstar caliber players. Some of the names being linked to OKC besides Hayward and Griffin are Paul George of the Indiana Pacers.
Nevertheless, these are just purely speculative at the moment and nothing has been confirmed. Only time can tell if Westbrook has the chops to raise his game even higher to attract more talents to Oklahoma City.
Check out the video below for the Top 10 plays of Hayward's career so far.