NBA free agency is only weeks away, and that means social media is ready to explode with its predictions and justifications for which big-name players are joining new teams. Among those marquee free agents is Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward, who is expected to decline the player option on his contract for the 2017-18 season and test free agency this summer.
3 Instagram screenshots prove Gordon Hayward to the Celtics MUST be true
If you thought Hayward was staying put in Utah, you might want to think again.
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
And some of Hayward’s latest activity on social media points to a possible departure from Salt Lake City. After all, Boston’s two stars Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford each followed the Jazz All-Star on Instagram.
Those follows came just a few days after Hayward’s wife posted then deleted a picture holding their daughter in a Celtics shirt.
Hayward’s teammate and co-captain Rudy Gobert took a stand of his own in light of the Instagram developments:
Hayward, who is coming off the best season of his career, is a two-way wing who made his first All-Star appearance with the Jazz last season. He averaged 21.9 points on near 40 percent three-point shooting to push Utah to a tie with the Clippers for fifth seed in the Western Conference.
The Jazz hold some chips in their hand: They can offer Hayward a five-year max contract at around $177 million. No other teams can offer more than four years in the $132 million ballpark. Utah also made the playoffs this season for the first time since the Jerry Sloan era. They’ve put together a solid foundation to build on, including Gobert, the potential Defensive Player of the Year .
But Hayward’s connection to the Boston Celtics has been aired out. He was the star for Brad Stevens at Butler, when the Bulldogs nearly defeated the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Championship Game.
Stevens now coaches the Celtics, who are arguably a star wing player away from legitimately challenging the Cavaliers for top dog in the East despite finishing with the conference’s best record.
The internet’s record on these matters certainly isn’t spotless, but social media makes a good argument this time around. And if these indicators are a spot-on with Hayward’s decision-making process, the Celtics could be really good, really soon.
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