The agent for Gordon Hayward seems like he is trying to soften the blow towards the Utah Jazz about the forward leaving for Boston.
Mark Bartelstein joined Ryen Russillo on ESPN Radio Wednesday to talk about the process by which Hayward chose the Celtics in free agency. According to what Bartelstein told Russillo, Hayward was leaning towards re-signing with the Jazz as of Monday night following his visit with the team.
“He was shaken because now he was back thinking, ‘I can’t leave Utah,'” Bartelstein said of Hayward’s mindset following the meeting.
“We were on the phone til really late on Monday night and he was really torn on what he wanted to do. He was leaning towards staying with Utah. But he was exhausted, so I said ‘go to bed, wake up in the morning.'”
Bartelstein says that after the two talked in the morning, he got the sense Hayward was back to wanting to play for the Celtics. Then all craziness broke loose when the news was leaked earlier than expected, leading Bartelstein to issue multiple denials until the announcement was made in the fashion they wanted.
In the end, Hayward is heading to Boston and leaving Utah behind. Whether the Jazz made it tough for him to leave matters little to the team’s fans; they’re still going to be upset about him leaving, as we saw instantly.
