Back and forth reporting on whether or not Gordon Hayward was slated to be joining the Boston Celtics next season was the sporting news that dominated Independence Day headlines.
In a case almost reminiscent of the DeAndre Jordan/L.A. Clippers/Dallas Mavericks love triangle from a season ago, it was far from clear conjecture whether or not Hayward was going to choose to re-sign with the team that drafted him, or reunite with his old college mentor Brad Stevens.
Well, apparently, it wasn't clear to Hayward either.
According to Hayward's agent Mark Bartelstein, the All-Star was leaning towards re-signing with the Utah Jazz as late as Monday night, until an 11th hour decision that was apparently “gut wrenching” for the small forward.
“Hayward was leaning towards staying with Utah on Monday night,” Bartelstein said on the Ryen Russilo show.
“This entire process was gut wrenching for him.” Bartelstein added. “Utah has done an incredible job. That was an incredible situation for him.”
Despite the Jazz being instrumental in making Hayward the player he is today, the opportunity to reunite with Stevens was far too tempting to pass up. Hayward will get to play in the spread offense in which he thrived in at Butler, and will have the chance to play at a much faster pace than he did in Utah. Additionally, he has the help of offensive aficionados Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford to help form a potent three-man combination on offense. After Thomas went down with a hip injury last postseason, the Celts found it difficult to generate buckets with Horford as their number one option.
Although the East is still clearly the Cavaliers' to lose, the addition of Hayward to the Celtics should make things a lot more interesting between last year's top two teams.
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