The Boston Celtics had zero interest in trading small forward Gordon Hayward this summer.
An anonymous opposing executive told Keith Smith of Celtics Blog his team called Boston about trading for Hayward and the Celtics shut it down “quickly.”
“After it was clear Kyrie (Irving) was leaving, I told our owner that we could maybe grab Hayward for nothing if Boston tore it down,” the exec said. “He’s owed a lot of money, but only a couple of years left. We made a call, but it got shut down quickly. I think Danny (Ainge) and Brad (Stevens) know what they have in Hayward for this year and going forward. He’s going to be really good again.”
Gordon Hayward has two years left on his contract. He'll make $32,700,690 next season and has a player option worth $34,187,085 for the 2020-21 season. All signs point toward Hayward picking up that player option.
October will be two years since Hayward suffered that gruesome ankle injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Celtics believe Hayward will regain his All-Star form and be more comfortable on his legs moving forward.
This past season, Hayward was a shell of himself. He averaged 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 46.6 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc and 83.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Let's see if Hayward can have a bounce back season in 2019-20 for the Celtics. Boston wants Hayward to be part of the team's Big 4 with Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
With Kyrie Irving and Al Horford gone, the Celtics are going to put the ball in Hayward's hands a lot more.
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