Prior to Gordon Hayward formally announcing on the Fourth of July his decision to sign with the Boston Celtics, there was a report that leaked that the All-Star forward was going to make the move.
It initially put the entire decision-making process on hold with Hayward rethinking his choice. According to Jared Weiss of Celtics Blog, it was during this time that Celtics general manager Danny Ainge became worried that the 27-year-0ld was going to change his mind and re-sign with the Utah Jazz.
Celtics sources had said they were more nervous when the report came out early, that there could be new pressure to change Hayward’s mind.
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) July 14, 2017
This was not an easy choice to make by any means for Hayward that he had reportedly the night before considered remaining with Utah. He was clearly torn between the two teams, which likely only contributed more greatly to the Celtics' concern.
That said, Hayward ultimately elected to stay with his decision to join Boston on a four-year, $128 million. His addition now puts them another huge step forward toward being a legitimate threat to dethrone the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
Hayward has developed into a proven scorer in the league and is coming off his best individual campaign where he averaged career-high 21.9 points with 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game helping him earn his first All-Star Game selection.
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