Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Atlanta Hawks are in play in an attempt to acquire Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
A sign-and-trade deal is a possible route, but Atlanta is equipped with the most cap space in the league at around $44 million and can simply sign Hayward to a hefty multi-year deal if he decided to decline his option.
Atlanta is seeking an alternative playmaker to incorporate alongside young star Trae Young.
Hayward, 30, has plenty of interest, sources said.
News of Atlanta’s interest in Gordon came several hours after ESPN reported that the Celtics and Hayward’s team agreed to delay the opt-out deadline from Tuesday 5 pm to Thursday 3 pm.
So what the hell is going on here? First off, he must be leaving. The delay is needed to sort out any sign-and-trade.
There’s a possibility the Atlanta interest is being floated by the Celtics to motivate Indiana – the team I (still) believe is Hayward’s preferred destination.
And while Atlanta can swoop in and sign Gordon with their cap space, the Celtics could entice them (with a 2nd round pick) into a sign-and-trade that lands Boston a trade exception worth anywhere from $20 – $34 million. This is how the Kemba Walker signing was completed.
Update via Jared Weiss of The Athletic:
According to a person familiar with Hayward’s thinking, the 30-year-old former All-Star wants to continue to be a core part of a winning team and would not want to go to Atlanta.
In other news:
.@KevinOConnorNBA on #Celtics and trades heading into the draft:
The talk yesterday was Gordon Hayward + 1st to Pelicans for Jrue Holiday. Didn't materialize
KOC: "I heard Chicago asked about Kemba"
— Merloni & Fauria (@MerloniFauria) November 17, 2020
Per league source on the Celtics' view of a potential James Harden deal: "No interest."
— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) November 18, 2020
Hearing tonight the Celtics are mostly in a holding pattern with Hayward. Regarding the possibility of packaging picks and moving up in the draft, teams in the mid-lottery have indicated that they’d like to stay there.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) November 18, 2020
Regarding tonight’s draft, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor has the Celtics selecting RJ Hampton (G-New Zealand), Leandro Bolmaro (G-Barcelona), and Xavier Tillman (F-Michigan St). There very little smoke on trading the draft picks. Perhaps that’s a good sign?
Also,
The Celtics continue to pay homage to Aron Baynes in all of their jersey announcements. (This time, the news is that Vistaprint has placed General Electric as the jersey patch.) pic.twitter.com/ia4gLBZIOM
— Nicole Yang (@nicolecyang) November 17, 2020
The rest of the links:
Herald – Celtics head into draft with multiple concerns
BSJ: What happens now?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
