Nuggets absolutely must not sign former all-star free agent connected to team

The Nuggets will have very limited spending power on the market this offseason regardless of what moves they make and don’t make. The biggest pending transaction this summer is the player option for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The team will almost certainly be as aggressive as possible to retain KCP, but bringing him back will make the roster extremely expensive.

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, even if Caldwell-Pope opts out of his deal and re-signs elsewhere, the team will be well over the salary cap and won’t be able to use cap space to sign free-agent replacements. Barring a massive roster overhaul, they’ll be limited to minimum contracts and the taxpayer midlevel exception - worth about $5.1 million.

Nuggets must nail their offseason moves on the margins

In other words, the Nuggets will be scraping the bottom of the barrel, trying to find value on the scrap heap, hoping to hit on young players, or trying to convince veterans to take less money in exchange for the chance to contend for a title.

One player who would seem to fit the mold and has been connected to the Nuggets is Gordon Hayward. The 34-year-old Hayward reached the All-Star Game as a 26-year-old with the Jazz before departing in free agency to rejoin his college coach Brad Stevens with the Boston Celtics.

Injuries almost entirely derailed Hayward’s Celtics career and he’s been battling his body ever since. He signed in Charlotte and had several underwhelming and injury-plagued seasons with the Hornets before being traded at this season’s deadline to the Thunder. OKC was hoping Hayward would be their missing piece, a veteran wing with shooting, handling, and defensive abilities who would put them over the top.

But the opposite was the case; Hayward looked completely washed up and over the hill and wasn’t able to contribute positively to the Thunder at all. He was essentially axed from the playoff rotation and his lack of impact was a big reason the Thunder fell to the Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Nuggets must avoid Gordon Hayward at all costs

Now Hayward is a free agent again and Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports reported Hayward has fans within the Nuggets organization. On the surface, it might seem like a steal to get a former All-Star at a minimum deal who is still hungry for a championship and was an elite two-way wing player in his heyday.

But the sad reality is that those days are long gone. Hayward has already proven to be incapable of helping a contending team in the playoffs and the Nuggets would be chasing past production. They can only sign a handful of veterans and they need those players to contribute and crack the playoff rotation. Gordon Hayward is not that guy and using a contract and roster spot on him at this stage of his career could be disastrous.