Boston Celtics Is Slightly Favored to Land Gordon Hayward
The top priority for the Utah Jazz this summer is to convince All-Star forward Gordon Hayward to re-sign with them. However, a lot of teams are going to pursue him once he hits the free agent market this July, and one of them may even be in the driver's seat for his signature right now.
According to the Huffington Post's Jordan Schultz, the Boston Celtics are now the "slight favorites" to sign Hayward.
Everyone knows by now that the Celtics are in the mix for Hayward because of his connection with head coach Brad Stevens. But most people have assumed that the Jazz are the favorites to re-sign him since they can give him the most money. They can offer Hayward a five-year deal worth around $179 million, while other teams can only give him a four-year deal worth around $132 million. He's leaving a lot of money on the table if he signs elsewhere.
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Can Hayward put the Celtics over the hump in the Eastern Conference? It's difficult to predict, but he should give them a big boost on offense.
The Celtics need another player who can help Isaiah Thomas carry the scoring load on a regular basis and Hayward is more than capable of that. The team still has to address their rebounding problems, though. While Hayward is an all-around player, he's not exactly known for his rebounding prowess.
Meanwhile, Celtics player are either ramping up their efforts to recruit Hayward or they are simply trolling the fans.
Earlier this week, Isaiah Thomas started following Hayward on Twitter, and then Al Horford decided to join in on the fun as well.
Hayward's wife, Robyn, also created a storm on social media after she posted a photo of their daughter wearing a shamrock shirt with "Go Green" printed on the back. She has already deleted the post, but the internet never forgets.
