Gordon Hayward was always going to be the first domino to fall during the Celtics offseason and there now appears to be a growing level of uncertainty about the future of the 30-year-old here in Boston. We’ve covered many angles of Hayward’s situation here at BSJ in the past few weeks, but there is a different one now in play: The possibility that Hayward’s agent is testing the open market.
“There’s some buzz out there. And I can’t figure out what the buzz means,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the Lowe Post Podcast on Monday. “The buzz that I’m hearing is like the smoke, the smoke indicating that something is happening. I’m not sure what’s up, but I don’t think it’s a lock that Gordon Hayward is on the Celtics next year.”
Lowe later tempered those thoughts just a bit in the podcast, noting “We don’t know that there’s a Gordon Hayward chase. We don’t know that any of this is happening,” he added.
There are many layers to this situation from both the Hayward and the Celtics' perspectives. Let’s take a deeper look at this and see what’s at play here for both sides as they explore their options this offseason.
Is Hayward open to staying in Boston?
We’ve been operating under the assumption that Hayward would be open to staying in Boston long-term at the right price. This latest buzz around Hayward makes it fair to at least consider the possibility that’s not the case. The Celtics are well-positioned to pay him and offer him a chance at winning for the foreseeable future — and signing him to an extension at a lower annual salary offers them a chance to build more flexibility and gives them a potential trade asset to keep or move over the long-term.
Hayward’s agent Mark Bartelstein could be testing the free agent waters for his client to simply help him figure out a market for his extension. Things can change though if Hayward is unsure about remaining in Boston past next season. If he doesn’t want to stay for a reasonable price and the Celtics catch wind of it, there’s a strong chance he could be traded in the present in order for the Celtics to ensure they lock in some kind of return for him, something that didn’t happen with Kyrie Irving and Al Horford last summer when they walked away with no compensation coming back Boston’s way.
Since the Celtics would not have salary cap room if Hayward walks this summer or next summer, there will be limited resources to replace his production.
Who could sign Hayward if he opts out?
The good news for the Celtics? There really aren’t a lot of teams that can offer Hayward a lucrative deal in direct contrast to Al Horford last summer once he opted out of his deal. Horford found what he thought was a contender in Philly that was willing to pay him more than Boston annually and let him play a position he wanted (power forward).
This year — you can almost count the number of teams with significant cap space on one hand.
Atlanta: $45 million
New York: $0-45 million (depending on if team options are picked up)
Detroit: $30 million
Miami: $22 million
Charlotte: $22 million
Phoenix: Up to $22 million (if they let go of Saric, Baynes)
