The Utah Jazz are open and interested in a sign-and-trade with Gordon Hayward, according to The Salt Lake Tribune’s Tony Jones and Aaron Falk. Later on Wednesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne confirmed that the two sides had spoken. While Hayward has committed to joining Boston, a sign-and-trade could alleviate the Celtics’ current salary cap problems while sending some assets back in return.
Jazz, Celtics could flip Gordon Hayward for Jae Crowder through a sign-and-trade
Hayward has committed to Boston, but first they have to clear cap space. Utah might help them out.
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Right now, although Hayward and the Celtics have agreed to a four-year max deal worth $128 million, Boston can’t sign him outright. Even after renouncing their free agents (they’ve done that) and trading away some smaller, more expendable pieces, it seems like they must part with one key bench player. It sounds like that will be Jae Crowder, per ESPN, but Marcus Smart or Avery Bradley could still be in play. Only then will the Celtics have the cap space to ink Hayward to the deal they’ve agreed upon.
It was heartbreak for the Jazz to lose Hayward, someone they slowly groomed into the lead role over the past seven seasons and who was a cornerstone to their plans. But for everything Utah could offer, they couldn’t offer him an easier path to the Finals in the Eastern Conference. They couldn’t offer him a near shoe-in chance at an All-Star team. They couldn’t offer him his old, trusted mentor in Brad Stevens as head coach.
Boston only has to make room for him, and they spoke to half-a-dozen teams on Wednesday about the possibility of a trade to clear the necessary cap space, according to Wojnarowski and Shelburne’s report. Here’s why both sides would do that.
Why the Jazz would sign-and-trade Hayward
Utah has lost Hayward. Those sweepstakes are over and Jazz fans can only process it now.
Still, they don’t have to be complete losers in this scenario. By signing and trading Hayward to Boston, the Jazz could add back several good players. Utah is still planning on being competitive next season, and they’re likely still a favorite to make the playoffs even without him. Adding Crowder would make sure Hayward’s departure wasn’t a completely empty loss, especially since he’s on a team friendly deal for three more seasons.
If the Jazz don’t help out Boston, then the Celtics will find someone else to complete the necessary transactions. There’s no chance that Boston couldn’t find a suitor and Hayward would be forced to slink back to Utah, if you were wondering.
Why the Celtics would sign-and-trade Hayward
There isn’t concern that the Celtics won’t be able to find a deal. All three of those players are valuable role players that are being offered up for an extremely cheap price. But Utah might be the surest bet to complete this transaction, because they’re extra motivated to do this deal.
The other factor is that Utah probably isn’t coming back to haunt Boston. They’re in the Western Conference and any hopes that they would grow into a championship team were just severely dashed by Hayward’s decision. They can do Utah a favor while still getting the guy they really wanted.
Why Hayward would agree to such a deal
Hayward would still have to agree to this idea for it to work. Still, there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t. In a way, this could be his parting gift to Utah, a fanbase that took his departure hard after he announced it (for real) on Tuesday.
It’s a win-win-win scenario, in all likelihood. If the two teams can hammer out the details, we could see this become official on Thursday when the NBA’s free agency moratorium is lifted.
See More:
