After trading Gordon Hayward and PJ Washington, are Hornets now set for future success?

With the load a little lighter than usual, the Charlotte Hornets probably dialed back on the fuel for their chartered flight to Milwaukee on Thursday evening.

There weren’t many bodies on board.

All the wheeling and dealing before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline left things sparse, surely giving the occupants more room to roam. While Miles Bridges remains, which isn’t a surprise for those who’ve been paying attention, Gordon Hayward and PJ Washington are gone, joining Terry Rozier on the in-season transaction list.

In exchange for sending Hayward to Oklahoma City and Washington to Dallas, the Hornets’ haul of Grant Williams, Seth Curry, Tre Mann, Dāvis Bertāns, Vasilije Micić, a 2027 first-round pick and second-round picks in 2024 and 2025 was praised by two league executives.

Paired with the protected 2027 selection they received from Miami for Rozier, along with the expected salary cap relief they’ll get from Kyle Lowry’s expiring contract, it was a relatively productive period for the Hornets’ front office.

By acknowledging it’s time for a reset, the Hornets are strategically and methodically setting themselves up for an active offseason, offloading pieces now that could give them a decent return. Save for Williams, none of the contracts have significant financial ramifications beyond 2024-25, meaning they didn’t do anything to drastically hamper themselves to reconstruct the flawed roster.

And perhaps more than anything else, moving on from Hayward was important for a variety of reasons.

No matter how effective he was during the 58.6% of the games he suited up in for the Hornets, many fans reviled Hayward and that negative energy waffled around the franchise. In truth, nearly everyone grew tired of his conveyor belt of injuries.

Privately, over these last three-plus years, many within the organization were frustrated with Hayward missing so many games and the inability to play through the majority of his bumps and bruises. As the team’s highest paid player, certain responsibilities come with it and Hayward’s constant shuffling in and out of the lineup made him hard to count on, which wasn’t a good thing for a young team devoid of playoff-tested veteran leadership.

Hayward wasn’t even able to play in the Hornets’ two biggest games during his tenure in Charlotte, missing the blowout play-in tournament losses to Indiana in 2021 and Atlanta in 2022. Those burdensome things didn’t endear him to many and with him now a distant memory, the page can be turned on a chapter that wound up having more of a horror show vibe than a feel-good script.

Parting with Washington, coupled with Bridges’ reiteration of his desire to stay with the team that drafted him, means the Hornets and the 25-year-old forward likely have a future together. Although Bridges will be an unrestricted free agent in July and can choose his next destination, the Hornets can pay him more than any other team, giving them the upper hand.

He’s played himself into a lucrative deal, registering a career-best 40-plus performances in consecutive outings. He forms a tough tandem with LaMelo Ball, his close friend, and the Hornets could have a good nucleus to build around considering the heights Brandon Miller is reaching of late.

In earnest, the Hornets spent the past few months jockeying between Washington and Bridges, debating which player to move forward with. And as of now, although nothing is close to definite in the NBA, it appears Bridges’ return is in the cards.

Stay tuned on that, because there’s always a curveball tossed in somehow when it comes to negotiating.

As for the newcomers, Williams is the most expensive, carrying three years and $40.8 million remaining compared to the two years and $30 million left on Washington’s pact. He’s viewed by some in the same mold as Washington because his preference is to shoot from the perimeter to stretch the defense. Williams also brings playoff experience to Charlotte, after playing in the postseason for four years with the Celtics before joining the Mavericks.

The addition of Curry, besides obvious ties to the city and the Hornets’ color analyst on Bally Sports Southeast, gives them a knock-down outside shooter, someone who can spot up and be ready to receive passes from others like Ball. The Hornets don’t always have much spacing since few opponents are scared of their perimeter threats outside of Ball, but Curry can help change that.

They also get a peek at Bertāns, Mann and Micić. The latter two are point guards, a position that could use a look since Ball is still out and there is no immediate long-term solution on the roster.

Two league sources suggested the Hornets could have something in Mann if he develops.

“Tre Mann has a shot to be really good,” one league source said.

That also sums up the Hornets’ chances to perhaps finally turn it around, especially if the game plan resembles anything close to what they just accomplished. They’ve set the stage to unveil how they plan on ending the fourth-longest postseason drought for any franchise in America’s top four professional sports leagues, and countless eyes will be watching their every move.