Gordon Hayward is coming back to the West, while Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks are headed to an East contender

Gordon Hayward is back in the Western Conference and back in the Northwest Division.

No, he’s not back with the Utah Jazz (breathe a sigh of relief, Jazz fans), but is now with a division rival.

Reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday morning, Hayward has been traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a trade that sent guards Tre Mann and Vasilije Micić, as well as forward Davis Bertans, to the Charlotte Hornets.

The move sends Hayward back to the West after seven years in the East, time split between the Boston Celtics and Hornets.

Hayward joins a Thunder team that is tied for the No. 1 seed in the West, along with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, at 35-16 overall.

Related

• The Utah Jazz trade Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbaji to the Toronto Raptors

The Jazz and Thunder are slated to play only one more time this season, a game in OKC on March 20, but if the playoffs were to start today the 10-seeded Jazz would be in line to play the Thunder in the first round, if the Jazz were to make it out of the play-in tournament.

Hayward isn’t the only former Jazzman who was moved at the trade deadline.

Forward Bojan Bogdanovic and guard Alec Burks were traded from the Detroit Pistons to the New York Knicks in exchange for guards Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn, Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono, plus two second-round picks, Wojnarowksi reported.

The move gets Bogdanovic and Burks off one of the worst teams in the NBA and onto an increasingly improved Knicks team that is currently a top-four team in the East.

Writes ESPN’s Tim Bontemps: “For New York, which is currently dealing with injuries to Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby, adding two veterans (in Bogdanovic and Burks) who can step into the rotation immediately will help bolster a team that is hoping to finish with a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference.”

Also on Thursday, The Athletics’ Shams Charania reported that Royce O’Neale is being traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix Suns in a three-team trade that includes the Memphis Grizzlies. Grizzlies’ forward David Roddy is also headed to Phoenix, with multiple second round picks being moved between teams as well.

The Jazz have also been active this trade deadline, sending forward Simone Fontecchio to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Kevin Knox II and a 2024 second-round pick on Wednesday, before moving center Kelly Olynyk and guard Ochai Agbaji to the Toronto Raptors for guard Kira Lewis Jr., forward Otto Porter Jr. and a 2024 first-round pick on Thursday.