Hayward says he’ll sign with Celtics
All-Star forward Gordon Hayward, who averaged career bests of 21.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season for Utah, announced Tuesday in an essay on the Players’ Tribune website that he will leave the Jazz after seven seasons to sign with the Boston Celtics.
The deal reunites Hayward with his college coach, former Butler boss Brad Stevens.
“This was a life-changing decision for me and my family, and something we took really seriously,” Hayward wrote. “And from the very start of this process, one thing stood out as important: I knew that I wanted the fans and the organizations to hear my decision directly from me.”
The pact reportedly is a fouryear, $128 million deal that includes a player option for the final season.
Hayward leaves a loaded Western Conference to join a Boston team that was the No. 1 seed in last season’s Eastern Conference playoffs.
Hayward’s deal prompted the Celtics to withdraw their qualifying offer to center Kelly Olynyk, making him an unrestricted free agent. Sacramento adds two: The Kings agreed to free-agent contracts with forward Zach Randolph and point guard George Hill.
After eight seasons with Memphis, Randolph left the Grizzlies for a $24 million, twoyear deal. He averaged 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game last season.
Hill, who averaged 16.9 points per game last season for the Jazz, reportedly will sign a three-year, $57 million contract. Deal reportedly done: A three-team trade among the Clippers, Hawks and Nuggets that will send forward Danilo Gallinari from Denver to Los Angeles has been agreed upon, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
The newspaper reported that Gallinari signed a three-year, $65 million deal before the trade.
In the swap, Atlanta receives guard Jamal Crawford, center Diamond Stone and a 2018 first-round pick, and Denver — which needed to clear salarycap space for its free-agent deal with Paul Millsap — gets a 2019 second-round draft pick. Briefly: Wizards forward Otto Porter, a restricted free agent who averaged 13.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season, has agreed to sign a four-year, $106 million offer sheet with the Nets, according to a report by the Vertical. Once Porter signs, the Wizards will have the opportunity to match the deal . ... Forward Patrick Patterson, who averaged 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the Raptors last season, has agreed to a three-year, $16.4 million deal with the Thunder, ESPN reported ... Weeks after the sides came to a final agreement on how to part ways and more than a year since his last NBA appearance because of blood-clot issues, Chris Bosh was waived by Miami. The move gives the Heat access to $25.3 million in salarycap space for this season. Bosh still gets that salary, plus $26.8 million for the following season . ... Free-agent forward Mike Scott, who averaged 7.1 points per game last season with the Hawks, has agreed to a oneyear, $1.7 million contract with the Wizards, a person familiar with the deal said . ... Timberwolves first-round draft pick Justin Patton will not play in summer league after breaking his left foot during a workout.