$FMUJDT NBLF CJH GSFF BHFOU TQMBTI XJUI )BZXBSE
For the second straight summer, the Boston Celtics have succeeded in doing something the franchise had never previously accomplished before last year.
A year ago, it was the signing of Al Horford from the Atlanta Hawks that instantly became the most significant free-agent acquisition in franchise history. Tuesday evening matched that – and some could easily argue topped it – with word that All-Star forward Gordon Hayward picked the Celtics after three days of meetings with the Miami Heat, Boston and the Utah Jazz team he called his home for seven seasons.
It capped a wild day of speculation after ESPN first reported Hayward was choosing Boston around 2 p.m. – followed by a flood of media “confirmations” – before Hayward’s camp put out word he was still in the process of deciding.
It was shortly before 8 p.m. that Hayward confirmed the big news himself with a story on The Player’s Tribune website.
“Today has definitely been one of the craziest days of my life,” he wrote. “But I wanted to make sure that I got this right.”
After a day of wooing Sunday, which included a video proposal at Fenway Park that featured a passion plea from retired Red Sox hero David Ortiz, Hayward met with Jazz officials in San Diego on Monday. He took the night to contemplate his future, then informed the Celtics he was coming to Boston to join Horford, Isaiah Thomas and the rest of the team that finished the regular season as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
The decision turns what was in danger of being a lost summer into a big jackpot for Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. He missed out on top trade target Paul George Friday night when the Indiana Pacers made the surprise move to trade him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. But he landed Hayward – whom the Celtics prioritized over fellow top free agents Blake Griffin, Kyle Lowry and Paul Milsap.
And, with that, he gets a resounding win for the offseason.
As does Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who recruited Hayward, then coached and groomed him at Butler University, and whose relationship with the player and reputation around the league was strong enough to deliver who will likely be the highest-profile free agent to switch teams this summer.
“It always meant a lot to me,” Hayward wrote of his decision to leave Butler early following a loss in the national title game, “to know how, in that moment, even with our lives at this strange crossroads together, Coach Stevens was someone I could count on.
“And 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.”
It is also a boost to the star power of Horford and Thomas, who proved they could sell a city that they came to from different markets and have since wholeheartedly embraced.
Hayward brings a terrific allaround game that should greatly enhance a team that won 53 games and advanced two rounds in the playoffs. He averaged 21.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists with a 53.6 effective field-goal percentage this past season. He is also a player who has continued to improve throughout his career.
He has the ability to score both from the perimeter and get to the rim, defend multiple positions and can fill several roles in what Stevens envisions as “positionless basketball.”
With questions surrounding the championship window of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who face LeBron James entertaining free agency next year, the Celtics have positioned themselves as the heir apparent in the Eastern Conference, while still protecting their ability to supplement the veterans with high-end draft talent.
Ainge’s other big move in recent weeks – the trading of the No. 1 overall pick in the June 22 draft for the No. 3 pick used on Duke University’s Jayson Tatum and a potential top-five in one of the next two drafts – means he will also likely enter next year with a pair of top-three picks in Jaylen Brown and Tatum, who both dazzled in Monday night’s Summer League opener, as well as the possibility of two more top-five picks next year with the Celtics still owning one more unprotected No. 1 pick from the Brooklyn Nets.
The ability to challenge for a spot in the NBA Finals next year, and framework to keep challenging for a spot in the NBA Finals for the next decade, represents a major coup of Ainge and the franchise.
And it all centered around getting Hayward to take a similar leap to Boston from his comfort zone in Utah that Stevens made from his comfort zone in Butler nearly four years ago to the day.
Two days that now have a very good chance at going down as two of the biggest days in shaping the next contending era for the franchise.
(MetroWest Daily News/TNS)
Heat part ways with Bosh
The Miami Heat waived forward Chris Bosh and announced the franchise will retire the 11-time All-Star’s uniform number.
The move was expected, coming six weeks after Miami, Bosh and the players’ union had agreed to a resolution on Bosh’s contract status stemming from multiple blood clots that curbed his NBA career.
In other NBA news, the Sacramento Kings agreed to freeagent deals with point guard George Hill and power forward Zach Randolph.
Hill agreed to a three-year, $57 million deal, according to The Vertical. Randolph reached agreement on a two-year, $24 million pact, according to ESPN.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers are attempting to secure a sign-and-trade agreement with free-agent forward Danilo Gallinari on a three-year, $65 million deal, ESPN reported.
With salary-cap space an issue, the Clippers are aiming to acquire Gallinari through a three-way trade involving the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks.
Also, Boston’s All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas likely will not require surgery on the injured hip that ended his season, according to coach Brad Stevens.
Thomas was shut down at halftime of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers after aggravating a hip injury that had lingered since late in the regular season.
Thomas finished fifth in MVP voting and secured a spot on the All-NBA second team after averaging 28.9 points during the regular season. (Reuters)