Could a third team get involved with a Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade?

The longer the wait continues on a Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade possibility, the likelier it looks that there will be some kind of eventual deal in play for the Celtics and Hornets to land Boston a trade exception and/or player(s) in exchange for some draft compensation in some form.

A simple version of the deal is Charlotte still stretching Nicolas Batum’s contract ($27 million) and then demanding some draft compensation from Boston in exchange for facilitating the sign-and-trade. Whether this type of deal gets done simply comes down to whether the Celtics and Hornets can find some common ground on draft compensation heading back to the Hornets. How much is a $30 million trade exception worth to the Celtics? Two second-round picks? A protected first-round pick? The Hornets have all the leverage here so it will be interesting to see how much they demand in exchange and what Ainge's walkaway point is.

However, as the days drag on here with no roster movement from both sides in terms of finalizing their own contracts, the odds increase of a deal that involves both teams or perhaps goes beyond two teams in a sign-and-trade. There are still a few teams around the league that have big trade exceptions (Thunder) or significant cap room (Knicks, Hawks (if Bogdanovic offer gets matched)) that could potentially factor into a hypothetical sign-and-trade scenarios. How exactly could involving a third team in a potential sign-and-trade help out both the Celtics and Hornets? Let’s look through a few hypotheticals.

Thunder

This is probably the most likely option since their roster has been a revolving door all offseason as they accumulate draft picks for a rebuild. They should still have a sizable trade exception ($15 million) once they complete the Al Horford trade with the Sixers and they have another big one after trading Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Warriors. If the Hornets don’t want to stretch Batum and take the dead cap hit for the next three years on their books, the Celtics and Hornets could try to convince Sam Presti to take on Cody Zeller’s $15 million expiring contract into their big trade exception for some draft compensation. That would open up some big cap room for the Hornets to absorb Hayward’s deal and also spend on another free agent big to replace Zeller. The price point here would be key for the Celtics. Zeller shouldn’t have any trade value at 15 million but he’s still a decent player so the Thunder could try to flip him again for more value eventually on top of getting some picks from Boston for doing the initial deal.

The other way the Thunder could still get involved here is by sending another useful player out to Boston as part of a three-team trade scenario. They have a couple of veterans (Trevor Ariza, George Hill) left on the roster after all their wheeling and dealing and either could be useful in Boston as added bench depth this year. Could the Celtics get one of those guys out of Oklahoma City along with a big trade exception in a three-team deal? The logistics are there to make it happen if the Celtics are willing to pay enough draft capital to the Thunder and Hornets. Boston’s bench definitely looks like it could use one more experienced player out of the gate with Romeo Langford sidelined and Kemba Walker’s health situation still unclear with his knees.

Knicks

New York has been taking it slow in free agency, staying put with one-year deals for small money, so they still have somewhere between $15-20 million left on their roster in cap room. The same situation applies here as the Thunder to the Knicks as a team that’s still able to absorb a big contract without sending out another player. Their frontcourt looks set with Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel under contracts but would they be willing to take Zeller or Terry Rozier's deal with their cap room if those guys also gives them some solid draft capital? They could even conceivable absorb the Batum deal (unlikely) if they open up a little more cap room in another trade. The guess here is the Celtics are asking what the price the Knicks would ask for in order for Charlotte to dump a contract to the Knicks. Once again, this type of scenario would lead to Boston creating a big trade exception and cost Boston picks to compensate the cooperators (Hornets, Knicks).

Hawks

Atlanta tied up the last of their cap room in an offer sheet for Bogdan Bogdanovic, which the Kings have until midnight tonight to match. If they do, Atlanta will be left with about $20 million in cap room and not much left on the free agent to spend it on in terms of decent players. The Hawks are in win-now mode this season so they might not be looking to take a bad expiring but a useful player like Cody Zeller could be of interest to them if it also brings them picks with him and they plan on moving on from John Collins anyway via another move.

Final Thoughts

There’s also the possibility of a simple player swap too with Charlotte and Boston as part of a sign-and-trade. Friend of BSJ Ryan Bernardoni suggested a Daniel Theis for Zeller possibility as a way to make the math work for Charlotte in a Hayward sign-and-trade without needing to waive Batum, which would save them from having a massive dead cap hit on their books for the next three seasons.

No matter what, unless the Hornets asking price is exorbitant, it makes sense for all sides to put together some kind of sign-and-trade that allows a veteran or a trade exception to come back to Boston in the wake of Gordon Hayward’s departure. It hasn’t been a good offseason yet for Boston from a talent improvement standpoint but securing some type of potential return for their veteran would help in a big way.