Ramona Shelburne and Woj have the story:
The Boston Celtics have been aggressively trying to create enough salary-cap room to give Gordon Hayward the four-year, $128 million maximum contract he agreed upon by discussing trades involving Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley, sources told ESPN.
The Celtics have to make a complicated series of moves to create enough space to sign Hayward to the full max. But because the salary cap did not rise as much as projected, they likely will have to trade one or more of those three players to sign Hayward. Sources told ESPN that Boston has discussed trade concepts involving Smart, Crowder and Bradley with at least half a dozen teams on Wednesday.
They don’t elaborate on the teams involved or proposed terms. But a few have surfaced on Twitter:
Boston reached out to people with NYK about Marcus Smart, per sources. The Knicks' level of interest in Smart at the moment is unclear. https://t.co/QT0CrXVOBh
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 5, 2017
The Thunder could take Smart back with their $4.9 million trade exception created in the Ilyasova deal. https://t.co/acWNGWey4J
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 5, 2017
Are the Celtics really going to dump Marcus Smart for nothing more than cap space? Yikes.
Thunder reporter Fred Katz speculated that OKC might consider moving the Bulls 2018 unprotected 2nd round pick for Smart. Yeesh.
Meanwhile:
After landing Gordon Hayward, Boston is showing interest in several free-agent rim protectors. Celtics looking at moves to clear cap space.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 5, 2017
I’m guessing the Spurs Dewayne Dedmon ends up being too expensive. How about Andrew Bogut on a low cost deal?
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