Charlotte Hornets: Gordon Hayward’s fractured finger complicates this team’s outlook

The Charlotte Hornets were met with some bad news on Wednesday with the announcement that Gordon Hayward suffered a finger fracture.

The Charlotte Hornets made an investment this offseason in Gordon Hayward. They signed him to a four-year, $120 million contract, and it appeared that the organization was seeking to derail its own youth-oriented rebuild.

Ideally, a team signing Gordon Hayward would already have some reasonable designs on making the playoffs, but that’s not the case with the Hornets. They have a lot of new, exciting young pieces, including players like LaMelo Ball and P.J. Washington, but these guys won’t translate directly into wins anytime soon.

It was not just a confusing decision from the Hornets front office and ownership, it was a downright confused decision. They refuse to pick a direction, and they ended up deciding to put the next near-half-decade in Gordon Hayward’s hands. Not only did they break the bank to sign him, but the Hornets also had to waive and stretch the final year and $27 million of Nicolas Batum’s contract in order to make the numbers work under the salary cap.

Unfortunately, this team with unlikely playoff aspirations was dealt a blow when Hayward was diagnosed on Wednesday with an avulsion fracture of the fifth finger on his right hand. The Athletic’s Shams Charania had the report.

An avulsion fracture in particular is a rather miserable injury to suffer:

"In an avulsion fracture, a ligament or tendon and the piece of bone it attaches to pull away from the main bone."

It’s a tough pill to swallow for Hayward, who has already suffered far too many injuries in his NBA career. Hopefully, he’ll make a quick and full recovery and get back on the floor ahead of schedule, but an avulsion fracture may take some time to heal completely.

There’s no timeline yet announced for Hayward’s recovery and return, but up to eight weeks wouldn’t be an impossibility. With the season about to start in less than a week for most NBA teams, this is a major blow for the Charlotte Hornets.

Editor’s note: The team seems to suggest the timeline may be day-to-day, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed for that outcome.