Written by Chris Haynes at ESPN.com
Gordon Hayward plans to sign with the Boston Celtics, sources told ESPN, choosing their offer over those from the Utah Jazz, his team since 2010, and the Miami Heat.
Hayward’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, however, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that his client “hasn’t made a decision yet. We are still working through it.”
Jazz president Steven Starks tweeted that he trusts Bartelstein’s word that no decision has been made.
We trust Gordon and his agent that no decision has been made. Good communication all day and a great relationship.
— Steve Starks (@StevenStarks) July 4, 2017
Bartelstein also told the Boston Globe that although Hayward initially planned to announce his decision Tuesday, he was unsure if that would still be the case.
“That was the goal, but now we’ve got to kind of regroup here a bit,” he told the Globe.
In Boston, Hayward would be reunited with Brad Stevens, who also coached him in college at Butler.
Hayward’s decision would mark the second consecutive Fourth of July that a high-profile free agent would switch teams in free agency. Last year, Kevin Durant announced that he was leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors.
It also would mark the the second straight summer that the Celtics have successfully recruited a coveted player on the free-agent market. Last year, Al Horford signed with Boston.
Boston would now need a series of transactions to create cap space for Gordon Hayward. The Celtics would have to pull the qualifying offer on Kelly Olynyk, renounce free agents Jonas Jerebko, James Young, Gerald Green and waive the contracts of Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson (or trade). The Celtics would be left with $27.6M in room and likely need to move the contract of Terry Rozier or Marcus Smart. Trading Rozier would have the Celtics short $1M of a max salary a lot.
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