Gordon Hayward cleared up all the confusion and mystery about his free agency with a story in the Players Tribune:
And I guess it’s pretty crazy. Because seven years later, I had to make an even tougher decision — and again, Coach Stevens and I found ourselves at a crossroads together. And again, he was the person I knew I could count on the most.
And now I’ve decided to sign with the Boston Celtics.
There were so many great things pulling me in that direction. There was the winning culture of Boston, as a city — from the Sox, to the Pats, to the Bruins. There was the special history of the Celtics, as a franchise — from Russell, to Bird, to Pierce, and it goes on. There was the amazing potential of this current Celtics roster, as a team — from ownership, to the front office, to a talented roster with Isaiah, and Al, and everyone else. And of course, there was Coach Stevens: Not just for the relationship that we’ve built off the court — but also for the one that we started building on the court, all of those years ago, in Indiana.
And that unfinished business we had together, back in 2010, when I left Butler for the NBA … as far as I’m concerned, all of these years later, we still have it:
And that’s to win a championship.
In Brad We Trust.
Despite the Utah media’s best attempts at poo-pooing the Brad Stevens factor in Hayward’s decision, it was all about Brad.
Here’s the contract:
Full max is:
$29,727,900
$31,214,295
$32,700,690
$34,187,085 (Player Option)Total: $127,829,970
— Ryan Bernardoni (@dangercart) July 4, 2017
It’s likely Hayward will opt-out after 3 years and seek a huge raise that comes with being a 10-year veteran.
Here’s some reaction from Celtics players:
https://twitter.com/Isaiah_Thomas/status/882388352439398403
Ahora es! 💪☘️welcome @gordonhayward
— Al Horford (@Al_Horford) July 5, 2017
So now what? The Celtics have to clean up the roster to make cap room. Woj reports that they’ve renounced the rights to Kelly Olynyk, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Gary Washburn speculates that Jae Crowder could be moved and lists Atlanta as a potential destination. Thunder beat reporter Fred Katz says:
Source says Boston has already begun contacting teams about picking up Marcus Smart.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) July 5, 2017
The Celtics have landed the big fish, but there’s still a lot of work to do.
And one final note:
https://twitter.com/MattyinMaine/status/882389400977629188
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