The Boston Celtics’ offseason just got a lot better.
ESPN’s Chris Haynes reports that the C’s have won the Gordon Hayward sweepstakes.
Free-agent Gordon Hayward plans to sign with the Boston Celtics, league sources tell ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 4, 2017
Hayward was one of the most coveted free agents on the market. The Heat and Celtics were battling with the Utah Jazz for his services, and it appears Boston has won out. The Instagram activity of Hayward’s trainer also seemed to point to Hayward choosing Boston.
If you guys are trying to read the tea leaves and start pre-writing your posts, here’s who Hayward’s trainer followed recently on IG: pic.twitter.com/gw0xvMGiuT
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) July 4, 2017
The Celtics certainly appeared to be the best landing spot for Hayward.
The Jazz lost ground in the Western Conference after George Hill signed elsewhere and the competition got stronger with OKC and Minnesota adding talent, among others. Meanwhile, Boston is an up-and-coming team loaded with talent and future draft picks, and they appear poised to take over as the dominant team in the East once LeBron James begins aging and declining. On top of all that, Boston is led by Hayward’s former college coach, Brad Stevens. Signing with the Celtics made too much sense for Hayward.
