The Boston Celtics are one of the best free-agent destinations for Jazz star Gordon Hayward if he leaves Utah and signs with a new team. However, the Celtics are expected to have plenty of competition for the 27-year-old forward, and they’ve increased their pursuit as a result.
Reported here during the NBA Finals that the threat posed by Miami concerns Utah as much as Boston … but the Celts have ramped it up since
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 29, 2017
Hayward also has taken the next step toward becoming an unrestricted free agent.
League sources: Gordon Hayward just officially notified Utah he's declining his 2017-18 player option to become an unrestricted free agent
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 29, 2017
The Miami Heat have salary cap space, an ownership committed to winning and a roster with some talented young players. And, of course, the luxury of being able to live on South Beach. Miami’s reported interest in Hayward is nothing new, too.
That said, the Celtics are better equipped to win a championship than the Heat or Jazz, and C’s coach Brad Stevens has a good relationship with Hayward from their days together at Butler University.
Hayward averaged a career-high 21.9 points per game for the Jazz last season, and helped lead them to the second round of the 2017 playoffs.
The Celtics landed a marquee free agent in power forward Al Horford last summer. Landing another in Hayward would inch them a step closer to competing with the Cleveland Cavaliers for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
