Gordon Hayward Predicts Thunder's NBA Finals Run, Sees Celtics as Champions

Gordon Hayward on why the Oklahoma City Thunder are so good despite their young age (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Gordon Hayward knows first hand how good the Oklahoma City Thunder are.

The former All-Star forward rounded out his 14-year NBA career with the Thunder last season after he was traded midway through the year from the Charlotte Hornets. It gave the 34-year-old a chance to win a ring with the No. 1-seeded Thunder, where he appeared in 26 regular season games as a key reserve.

Despite entering last season as the second-youngest team and this year as the youngest at just over 24 years of age, the Thunder are once again among the teams in the NBA with the Western Conference's top record at 54-12 (.818). Oklahoma City is coming off of their second win over the defending champs, the Boston Celtics, this season. Their continued success isn't a surprise to Hayward.

“If you asked me that question last year, I would have said yes,” said Hayward in a one-on-one interview with RG when asked if he's surprised of the team's success. “[Based] upon what they did last year, it's not surprising that they're still doing it this year. Last year was their welcome to the big stage.

It's not just we have a bunch of talent, it's that they were putting it all together and winning games.”

The Thunder are actually on pace to blow away their West-best record from last season, when they finished with a 57-25 record (.695). In fact, they're currently 12 games ahead of the next best teams in the West in the 42-24 Memphis Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets.

Their playoff appearance last season was their first under this core with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Mark Daigneault as the head coach. They were surprisingly eliminated in the semifinals by the No. 5-seeded Dallas Mavericks, but that usually happens with extremely young teams making their first playoff runs.

They'll be better prepared this season with a playoff run now under their belts, and they're even better this year compared to last year, as evidenced by their record. It also doesn't hurt that Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as the favorite to win the MVP award with averages of 32.8 points, 6.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Hayward predicts Alexander will walk away with the MVP award, although he will face stiff competition from three-time MVP winner Nikola Jokic, who is averaging a triple double with 29.0 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. Jokic is also coming off of the NBA's first-ever 30-point, 20-rebound and 20-assist game.

The former Thunder veteran believes this is the year that Oklahoma City makes a deep playoff run. Hayward predicts the Thunder will advance to the NBA Finals, but lose to the Celtics in the championship series.

“I think obviously they're going to be one of the teams that's going to have a chance to win the whole thing and will certainly come down to the last two,” said Hayward.

Hayward obviously has experience playing for both teams, having starred for the Celtics at the start of the Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown era between 2017 and 2020. The former All-Star forward averaged 13.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in 125 games with the Celtics while helping lead them to two Eastern Conference Finals and one semifinal's appearance.

While he predicts two of his former teams will meet in the NBA Finals this season, Hayward won't be coming out of retirement to join either team - even for an opportunity to win his first-ever championship. The 34-year-old shuts down the notion of coming out of retirement, saying there's “no chance.”

“No chance, man,” said Hayward. “I'm enjoying life right now. I've got four beautiful children, one on the way, another baby boy on the way. I'm enjoying life and couldn't be happier.”

One other Western Conference contender that has caught Hayward's eye is none other than the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have emerged as one of the top teams in the West following their blockbuster trade that sent All-Star big man Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for point guard phenom Luka Doncic.

While the Lakers have cooled off lately due to LeBron James' groin injury against the Boston Celtics last week - they've lost three straight since his injury - they had rallied off eight straight wins with the James-Doncic duo. Their eight game win streak carried them to second in the Western Conference.

 “Yeah, absolutely surprised,” said Hayward when asked if the trade caught him off guard.

“That was amazing to me.  “It's one of those things where I think you have to be in the room behind closed doors, knowing what's going on, to justify the trade. I don't know, I'm not in Dallas. I don't know what's going on, but from an outsider's perspective, it's a pretty wild trade.”

As Los Angeles has risen up the standings and showed off their potential with their new star duo, the Mavericks have sunk down the standings. Dallas is currently 10th in the West and have gone 6-9 since the trade. Davis has been out since making his debut with the team, and Kyrie Irving is now sidelined due to a season-ending injury.

“As long as Luka can stay healthy and continue to have a passion to play the game of basketball, it seems like the Lakers got a real deal,” said Hayward.

He says the Lakers are “certainly” championship contenders if both James and Doncic can stay healthy. Hayward says he doesn't think anybody “wants to see them in the playoffs.”

“I would say certainly if they can stay healthy, and that's a big if,” says Hayward. “With LeBron, he just got injured. If those two can stay healthy, I don't think anybody wants to see them in the playoffs. You certainly don't want to prepare for those two in the playoffs, especially when the game slows down and two of the best players in the world with the ball in their hands in a halfcourt setting.”