NBA Writer: Celtics-Pacers Trade Might Clarify Gordon Hayward’s Future

Would Gordon Hayward be willing to resettle back home?

The Athletic’s Jared Weiss suggested Sunday the Boston Celtics might be able to trade the forward to the Indiana Pacers this offseason.

Sources told Weiss star guard Victor Oladipo wants to leave the Pacers this offseason, and center Myles Turner might be “in the same boat.” Weiss believes the Celtics might consider swapping Hayward and other assets for Oladipo and Turner.

” … Indiana is still home for the Haywards, and with Victor Oladipo looking to move on this offseason, according to sources, and Myles Turner possibly in the same boat, there could be an opportunity for (Celtics president of operations Danny Ainge) to move Hayward and the abundance of draft picks in his war chest in a mutually agreeable way,” Weiss wrote. “Boston won’t have cap space again with three stars locked up long-term, so moving Hayward or Marcus Smart presents one of the few opportunities to get back a player making starter-caliber money.”

Any potential trade for Hayward, 30, might depend on his willingness to sign a long-term contract extension with the team interested in acquiring him. He has a $34 million option for next season, the last year of the four-year contract he signed in 2017 with the Celtics. Most NBA observers expect him to opt into the deal, but the chance for Hayward to spend a few years of his NBA career in his native Indiana could prompt him to opt out and ink a long-term deal with the Pacers.

The Celtics currently own the Nos. 14, 26 and 30 overall picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, which the league reportedly hopes to stage Nov. 18.

That leaves the Celtics and Pacers little time to negotiate a potential trade for Hayward that would rank among the NBA’s blockbuster deals.