Gordon Hayward is getting paid — well beyond what the Knicks were willing to offer.
After opting out of his deal with the Celtics, and getting some interest from the Knicks, Hayward on Saturday landed a monster contract with the Hornets worth four years and $120 million, The Post’s Marc Berman confirmed.
The Knicks entered free agency with $35 million in cap space and were in play for Hayward, but they were not interested in him at that exorbitant price — which nearly matched the four-year, $128 million deal he got from the Celtics in 2017, before he suffered a major leg injury in his Boston debut. The former All-Star cashed in after opting out of the final year of his contract with the Celtics, in which he was set to earn $34 million.
Though the Knicks could have benefitted from Hayward’s shooting, they originally thought they could sign him on a two-year deal. Instead, the market for the 30-year-old — which also included his hometown Pacers — blew up, leading to the Hornets overpaying for the wing who never got settled in Boston.
While the Knicks were not willing to give Hayward that kind of commitment, he became the latest potential free-agent target to sign elsewhere. Before they brought back Elfrid Payton on a one-year deal Saturday, two more point guards came off the market in Fred VanVleet — the top free agent at the position re-signed with the Raptors — and veteran DJ Augustin, who agreed to a deal with the Bucks. As of Saturday evening, the Knicks’ only free-agent additions were Payton and swingman Alec Burks, who landed a one-year, $6 million deal Friday night.
Last year, after the likes of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard signed elsewhere — only perpetuating a trend of top free agents not landing with the Knicks — the team pivoted and signed a handful of other free agents, four of whom it let go on Thursday to open up cap space that remained largely unused by new president Leon Rose as of late Saturday afternoon.
By not overpaying for any players in the 2020 free-agent market — which lacked some luster compared to recent years — the Knicks are keeping their options open for the 2021 class, which could be filled with stars. Potential 2021 free agents could include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, LeBron James and Victor Oladipo, among others, barring those players signing extensions with their current teams.
The cap-space flexibility also continues to leave the door open for the Knicks to take on an unhappy and expensive star like Russell Westbrook, who has reportedly requested a trade from the Rockets.
In the meantime, the Knicks were still looking for a starting point guard as they inched closer to their first season under new head coach Tom Thibodeau while trying to build around a young core that features RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson and Obi Toppin, the No. 8 pick in Wednesday’s draft. The two remaining veterans left from last year’s free-agent signings are Julius Randle and Reggie Bullock.
The huge contract Hayward snagged from Michael Jordan’s franchise, meanwhile, certainly comes with some risk. It was only three years ago that Hayward had signed a four-year, $128 million deal with the Celtics. His tenure in Boston was rocky from the start, though, as he suffered a fractured tibia and dislocated ankle minutes into his Celtics debut. Over the next two seasons, he averaged 14 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and 35.8 percent from deep.