Woj: Hayward to Charlotte (4 years, $120 million)

[Kuberski33]

I really can't fault him for going Charlotte. If someone is willing to guarantee him that kind of money, and he's got a chance to reestablish himself as a star.

Whether he can do it is certainly up for debate but the alternative is being 4th option here in Boston. The move is a no brainer for him and in that position I'd do the exact same thing.

This is an example of why there's so much player movement in the NBA. These guys build outs into their contracts so if the situation that attracted them changes, they can get out. Hayward's just making a smart business decision.

Unfortunately for the Celtics it sucks for them at least in the short term. But that's the system.

[footey]

I think some of us are now realizing that our assumption that Hayward was somehow different that other players — small ego, willing to sacrifice for the team, happy to take a supporting role, not just about the money — was false. In the end, Hayward sounds more like most other elite athletes: looking to score big on his next contract, preferring to be one of the top guys wherever he plays, and probably a little in denial about the current stage of his career. That’s more a criticism of us than it is of the player.

I think it's great that Hayward did not settle. That he wasn't happy being the 4th option and wanted a bigger role.

Careers are short and you only have so long at the top. I like guys who want to max their individual talent while they have it.

Disappointed Hayward had to go to a crappy team like Charlotte to be one of the main guys again who the offense revolves around. That he did not get a chance to be a #2 or #3 on a playoff team but that's how free agency goes some times with these soft caps (limiting FAs options). Plus, he got a mega-payday (so it worked out in another way). I'm pleased for him.

Anyway, what I am saying is -- I like that ego. That is a good ego. That is the type of ego I want to see top athletes have.

I don't like seeing guys settle for less. Show your talent. Put it on display. If you can't show it where you are, leave and go somewhere where you can show it. I love that.

me too. TP.

[BringToughnessBack]

I see all the regular(and even some not so regular) doom and bloomers have come out of their posting hiatuses to slam Ainge once again.

There were always going to be 4 options when it came to Hayward this off-season:

1. He would opt in for $34.2 million at which point Ainge could have kept him for the year or traded him, which probably would have been near impossible given the money and he could walk on a team the next season. Hayward was in control of this option and decided against it.

2. Hayward opts out and agrees to a long term extension in Boston. This would need mutual desire on both parts. Hayward doesn't appear he wanted this. His wife didn't want this and at what Gordon signed for, there is no way Ainge wanted this.

3. Hayward opts out. Danny finds a suitor for a sign and trade that Hayward would work a contract out with while simultaneously getting what both teams wanted to deal in the sign and trade.

4. Hayward signs with a team with cap space.

After Hayward opted out there were just 3 options and it appears another option was removed by Hayward for personal reasons. So it came down to options 3 and 4.

Sure there was a ton of talk about Atlanta and New York being interested and Indiana willing to pay $100 over 4 years, though who knows how much would have been guaranteed. But Hayward removed that option by taking option 4, going for the truly big money to a team with cap space.

Why are Boston fans so miffed. It takes two teams to agree to a trade and it takes two teams and a player to agree to a sign and trade. For all we know Ainge and Pritchard was going to agree to terms on a sign and trade but Hayward decided for Charlotte.

It's just wrong to assume if Ainge and Pritchard had come to terms 20 hours ago that Hayward would have agreed to the sign and trade. If Hayward's agent was smart, and given the contract Hayward got, I think that's is probably true, he wasn't going to allow Gordon to accept Indy's offer without first exhausting all other opportunities that were being offered.

I just don't get the extremely strong vitriol towards Ainge here. Hayward decided where he wanted to go, not Ainge.

But, if you only come here just to moan and complain about the team, the coach and the GM, today must be like Christmas for you, regardless if any of it is in the least bit warranted.

Exactly! TP!

On another note, so many fans sound so petty and spoiled..Poor Celtics..we are ruined for life

Let’s fire Danny because Hayward got an insane deal from a team with salary space
Let’s fire Danny cause he made that horrible draft day trade with the Sixers and took Tatum
Let’s fire Danny for taking that “chump Brown with the third pick years ago
Let’s fire Danny cause we know he should have taken Randle over Smart!
Let’s fire Danny since he let Cryie leave and turned it into a Kemba


We have two budding superstars in Brown and Tatum who are 22 and 24.
We have a superstar in Kemba
We have a superhero defensive juggernaut in Smart who is the heart of what a true Celtics player should be

How many teams like the Knicks or Kings or TWolves would die to have a team like we have.

Guess what, Tatum and Brown are still a few years from hitting their peak..imagine that for a  second...


Our top priority now should be signing Tatum to his extension. Now, if he decided to leave and join Cryie, you can fire Ainge 😁

[footey]

Next steps:

* Sign Millsap
* Sign Dedmon
* S&T Hayward to Charlotte for a TPE
* S&T for Bogdonavic using TPE

Theis / Dedmon / Williams
Tatum / Millsap / Williams
Brown / Nesmith
Bogs / Smart
Kemba / Pritchard

Not happening, but losing Hayward could lead to increased flexibility.

Millsap would be a nice short term piece.  I’d love to see Bogdanovic at this point.  Dedmon is a weird player.  I’m not sure he’s just never been utilized right or he just doesn’t have the right skill set to fit in with anyone consistently.  He just seems to contribute to losing a lot.  But he’s played on some bad teams.

Most would disagree, but I'd trade Smart and Theis in a sign and trade for Bogdnovanich.  Maybe ask for a future pick in the deal.  He would be a better starting 2 guard than Marcus.  Theis is replaceable by Giles or Baynes, with RW3 and GW still in the fold.

[BringToughnessBack]

You know that Hayward is such a bum, how dare he get paid an amazing amount of guaranteed money and accept it..Sure no Celtics fan would ever take 30M a year vs 20M a year non guaranteed. We would all go to the highest bidder most likely. I for one, wish him and his family well.

[Neurotic Guy]

I think some of us are now realizing that our assumption that Hayward was somehow different that other players — small ego, willing to sacrifice for the team, happy to take a supporting role, not just about the money — was false. In the end, Hayward sounds more like most other elite athletes: looking to score big on his next contract, preferring to be one of the top guys wherever he plays, and probably a little in denial about the current stage of his career. That’s more a criticism of us than it is of the player.

I think it's great that Hayward did not settle. That he wasn't happy being the 4th option and wanted a bigger role.

Careers are short and you only have so long at the top. I like guys who want to max their individual talent while they have it.

Disappointed Hayward had to go to a crappy team like Charlotte to be one of the main guys again who the offense revolves around. That he did not get a chance to be a #2 or #3 on a playoff team but that's how free agency goes some times with these soft caps (limiting FAs options). Plus, he got a mega-payday (so it worked out in another way). I'm pleased for him.

Anyway, what I am saying is -- I like that ego. That is a good ego. That is the type of ego I want to see top athletes have.

I don't like seeing guys settle for less. Show your talent. Put it on display. If you can't show it where you are, leave and go somewhere where you can show it. I love that.

me too. TP.

I can't say it's a bad thing if a guy wants to be "the guy" especially if his ability matches his ego.   But I wouldn't say it's not a good thing if a guy sees himself in a valued role within a team and is willing to adjust his game for the greater good of the team.  We've seen a lot of players do that and be successful.  Not intending this at all as a put down to Hayward -- he has every right/reason to do as he wants for himself, family, etc. 

[wiley]

https://twitter.com/nicolecyang/status/1330237507477393409

Yeahhhh, Robyn, if you really wanted us to believe this perhaps you would've started this message off a little better lol

I'm guessing that Robyn not liking Boston had a big reason to do with this, too. She seems to run that relationship with Gordy being a bit of a pushover, so I'm guessing she played a big role in this.

Oh come on man...enough with the distrust right and left of every one and every thing.....You just proved her point...(contrary to the media....celticsstrong is media too, you know).

[gouki88]

Wow, what a deal for Hayward! $120m of guaranteed money would be light years away from anything else offered to him by Indiana or New York, good work to him and his agent.

It sucks that it didn’t work out for us in that we got nothing in return, but that’s okay. I think it might be best for our team to simply move on from it all. I hope we can snag some veteran hole-fillers, mainly experienced big men and an experienced back-up PG, but I’m not going to slit my wrists.

Good luck to Gordy!

[Ogaju]

Just FYI - on Twitter and the NBA sphere this deal is getting ridiculed as awful given Hayward's injury history. Classic MJ.

Clearly there was not much that Danny could do here. And if anything, this is a product of Danny being TOO successful by successfully signing or drafting/developing at least 4 max-level players. Just can't keep them all at the same time. Fact of the salary cap.

nice spin.  ainge is too good at his job.   hilarious.

You know, you "the world is falling posters" have yet to provide any kind of reasonable explanation about how this situation could've  been played out any different. So please, tell me, how exactly would you have got an injury prone 30 year old to turn down $120 Million guaranteed from Charlotte? You can't, because there's no reasonable explanation to do anything different outside of paying him that money ourselves, which clearly we don't look to do.

This absolutely is a product of Danny's success and the reality of the salary cap and a limited amount of money to work with. He's attracted or drafted 6 max-level players to Boston in the last 4 years in Tatum, Brown, Kemba, Hayward, Horford, and Kyrie.

Well that is not a credit to Ainge because working within a cap is the job of the GM. You cannot fill your team with max-level players ANYONE can do that. The job of the GM is to find a winning mix of players, and that is where Ainge continues to underwhelm.

[wiley]

https://twitter.com/nicolecyang/status/1330237507477393409

Yeahhhh, Robyn, if you really wanted us to believe this perhaps you would've started this message off a little better lol

I'm guessing that Robyn not liking Boston had a big reason to do with this, too. She seems to run that relationship with Gordy being a bit of a pushover, so I'm guessing she played a big role in this.

Not one word of thanks to the Celtics organization, the other players, the fans, just the people she came in contact with? There is a word for that, but I won't use it here.  lol...I feel sorry for Gordon.

She's a player's wife, and the media/fans in general haven't exactly bee the nicest (see the messages people sent about how she should induce labor, or the fact that someone put a tweet with her instagram post into this thread and people are now whining about it.

If this was the message Hayward had put out, then yeah that wouldn't be a great look. But Robyn owes the city, fans, and organization jack ****. Why should she be thanking you, rather than people she has actually met?

Thank you Bitter Jim...for the sanity.

[Ogaju]

I don't blame Hayward. He is a great player. For some reason, Gordon was able to move past his injury, but the rest of the organization couldn't. It's like everyone on the team forgot just how good Gordon was, and treated him differently because of that injury.

He was less assertive after the injury. Most of the fans here complained about that. His game really changed and he became more complimentary than the guy. I blame the organization for this. The organization promoted Tatum ahead of him. Bad move.

[nickagneta]

Celtics, since season's end have lost:

Hayward
Kanter
Poirier.
Note: Wanamaker could still return.

They have added:

Nesmith
Pritchard.

Soooooo, this team almost got to the NBA Finals with none of the guys that left making any significant contributions during the playoffs. And, the Celtics have added two rookies most known for their toughness, work ethic and elite shooting ability, that last item something the team desperately needed.

I'm not seeing that the Celtics have taken a major step backwards. They now have the full MLE and the BAE and vet mins to add to this team and stand a decent chance of not being a taxpayer this year, so resets that whole problematic situation if they stay below the tax threshold.

[tonydelk]

So Millsap back to Denver on a 1 year deal.  Who's left for Bigs  Ibaka, Baynes, Giles?

[BringToughnessBack]

Celtics, since season's end have lost:

Hayward
Kanter
Poirier.
Note: Wanamaker could still return.

They have added:

Nesmith
Pritchard.

Soooooo, this team almost got to the NBA Finals with none of the guys that left making any significant contributions during the playoffs. And, the Celtics have added two rookies most known for their toughness, work ethic and elite shooting ability, that last item something the team desperately needed.

I'm not seeing that the Celtics have taken a major step backwards. They now have the full MLE and the BAE and vet mins to add to this team and stand a decent chance of not being a taxpayer this year, so resets that whole problematic situation if they stay below the tax threshold.

Chicken Little would disagree with that logic!

[SHAQATTACK]

he could have really helped indy and might have ended his career there with family and all and they need a guy like him too.   

He ll have some good moments at Charlotte i would think,  but at that price ...he ll have to really light it up every night . An  Al Horford performance is not going to go over well and he ll be traded in a couple seasons .  I see it as poor deal for Charlotte and a money maker for Gordon .  Seems like basketball doen't really matter to players anymore