The Celtics pitch to Gordon Hayward is over

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I’m confident that Brad Stevens, Danny Ainge, Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford made a tremendous impression on the Jazz free agent.

Ainge was so relaxed today that he found time to tweet:

Here’s some perspective from Salt Lake City:

The Jazz will have their shot to answer that on Monday, when the two sides meet in San Diego. General Manager Dennis Lindsey, coach Quin Snyder and team President Steve Starks will be present at the meeting.

Utah heads into Monday’s meeting with momentum. On Friday, the Jazz traded a future first round pick for Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio. The Spanish floor leader, one of the best defending and passing point guards in the NBA, will be Utah’s starter next season. He replaces George Hill, who is currently an unrestricted free agent, with interest from the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets.

On Saturday, the Jazz finalized a deal with swingman Joe Ingles. That’s important to Utah. Ingles was one of the most valuable role players last season for the Jazz, and he’s one of Hayward’s best friends.

That’s a positive spin on George Hill’s departure considering the reports that Hayward desperately wanted the Jazz to resign his point guard.

Hayward reportedly wants to make a decision by Tuesday or Wednesday.

In other news:

This move was expected (regardless of how the Hayward meeting went) because Zeller was guaranteed $8 million in salary if he was still on the roster by July 3.

Image courtesy: Boston Herald

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