Boston Celtics fans should be hoping Gordon Hayward's relationship with the team isn't fractured, because they could help one another out a lot right now.
Hayward opted out of his contract Thursday, making him a free agent. The move was described as a "formality" and when you go deeper than a cursory glance at the situation, it's easy to see why.
To be sure, the 30-year-old signing outright elsewhere would hose the Celtics. Instead of being able to use the Hayward money basically in full, they only would get the mid-level exception of about $9.2 million (it would be far less if they were above the luxury tax.)
And while that's not Hayward's cross to bear, consider this. Any team that has the cap space to sign him outright at a fair deal is, well, not in a position to contend anytime soon. Basically, there are only two teams that can sign him outright are the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks. Both are bad teams, and though they're rumored to be interested in Hayward, that could just be posturing by his agent.
At this point in his career, Hayward probably isn't looking to play for a team that is years away from contending.
So, the way everyone gets around these issues is through a sign-and-trade. And for both Hayward and the Celtics, this is the best possible scenario.
Because Hayward technically would be re-signing with Boston, he would be able to get a lucrative enough deal that's at fair-market value. Then, he can get moved to a team that would otherwise be unable to sign him.
Not only does this help the other team land Hayward while getting around cap issues, but the Celtics would be able to get something in return -- something more than a player they would land with the MLE.
One has to think the reason the Celtics and Hayward pushed back the deadline for him to make his opt-out decision was so they could cook up trade offers. That very well might remain the case, and it should, because it would be in the best interest of both teams to get a sign-and-trade done.
