Hayward still ‘excited’ to be here

When Gordon Hayward agreed to join the Celtics as a free agent on July 4, the roster looked drastically different than it does now.

But even though this isn’t the version of the Celtics he signed up for, he’s not having any second thoughts about his decision to leave Utah.

The completion of the trade this week that landed Kyrie Irving from Cleveland shook the Celtics at their core, and the version of the team Hayward envisioned. Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder, both traded to Cavaliers in the deal, were major reasons why Hayward decided to come to Boston, and now they’ll play for the Celtics’ biggest competitor in the Eastern Conference.

“IT did a tremendous job as far as recruiting me here to the city of Boston,” Hayward said. “He talked about Boston as a city, the fans, the organization, the coaches, the people that are involved behind the scenes, and he was somebody I was definitely excited about playing with. He’s an unbelievable player, had an unbelievable year last year. I would be lying if I said that wasn’t the truth.

“I’ve been in this business long enough to realize it is a business. Things happen, things can change. I go from an opportunity playing with IT and the rest of the guys to now playing with Kyrie Irving, who’s one of the best basketball players in the league, and another great opportunity for me . . . . Same thing as far as the other players go as well. Jae Crowder, tremendous basketball player. Unfortunate that I won’t have the chance to play with him.”

Just four players — Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown — remain with a team that was the No. 1 seed in the East and advanced to the conference finals. But Hayward is just as excited about his new collection of teammates.

“At the same time we get Marcus Morris, Aron Baynes, Marcus Smart, Rozier, two young guys Jayson (Tatum) and Jaylen, and … Big Al Horford for sure, he was there too recruiting me. The opportunity is still there for me, and going through it, it’s something that I’m looking at just excited, excited about coming here, moving to Boston, moving my family here, and thrilled to get the season going.”

They go way back

Even though Irving and Hayward are new teammates doesn’t mean they’re unfamiliar with another.

In fact, they were nearly teammates three years ago. Hayward was a restricted free agent in 2014, when he was with Utah and made a visit to Cleveland, but the return of LeBron James to the Cavs prevented the All-Star forward from joining Irving.

“Kyrie came in and was saying how much fun it would be if I was on the team, and kind of recruited me to go there, and then LeBron came and that kind of squashed that whole thing,” Hayward said.

Three years later, though, they’re beaming about their new partnership.

“This is a bad dude to the left of me,” Irving said of Hayward. “He’s a bad dude. I spent about 20 minutes watching his highlights probably about two weeks ago, just seeing where in Utah how they were utilizing him and where he likes his spots and his post-ups and his footwork.”

Ainge won’t bite

C’s president of basketball operations Danny Ainge wasn’t interested in discussing details behind the Irving trade that finally came to its conclusion Wednesday night.

The Celtics added a 2020 second-round pick to complete the trade after the Cavs were unhappy with the results of Thomas’ physical, and Ainge was asked if he was surprised Cleveland asked for more compensation.

“I won’t comment on any of our communication over the last week,” Ainge said. “It’s private.”

Father’s day

Irving’s father, Drederick, attended the press conference, and was recognized at the beginning. The elder Irving was a standout at Boston University from 198488, and his No. 11 hangs in the rafters at Case Gym. His son will also wear No. 11 for the Celtics.