Entering this year’s free agency, Gordon Hayward was one of the biggest names that was expected to receive a lot of interest from teams around the league. He took his time in choosing which team to play for next, before trimming down his list to three, the Utah Jazz, Miami Heat, and Boston Celtics. As it turned out, he ultimately decided to take his talents to Beantown, after the C’s recruited him with the best of their ability.

However, what many do not know is that if not for Isaiah Thomas, he may have opted to play elsewhere. He recently shared his experience of listening to the Celtics' pitch, and the 5-foot-9 point guard’s as well, via a blog he posted on his website, Gordonhayward20.life.

“He didn't just help recruit me to Boston – he was a big piece of that recruitment,” Hayward wrote. “He had talked a lot about (the) city and how it was different to be a Celtic. He talked about the intensity of playing in the Eastern Conference finals, playing at the Garden in the playoffs, and how much fun it was, and how much fun he had playing in Boston.”

“All of that ultimately helped win me over. And by the time of the trade, I had already started to build a little bit of a relationship with him.”

While he thought he will be playing alongside Isaiah Thomas, a surprising turn of events happened as the two-time All-Star was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving. But despite being rivals now, Hayward says he will still be rooting for Thomas' success.

With the Celtics and Cavs expected to have deep runs in the playoffs next year, it will be very interesting to see how the two will compete against each other. For what it’s worth, the Boston faithful may still have a lot to be thankful for Thomas, even if he will be playing for their team’s rivals now, especially if Hayward proves to be the missing piece to their championship quest.