Gordon Hayward was supposed to inform the Celtics whether he planed to stay in Boston by 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
But when he and the team decided to push back his deadline to decide to opt in to his $34.2 million player option, it could be sniffed from miles away that something bigger was at play. Most likely, that Hayward was working with the team on a destination for a sign-and-trade, or planning to opt out but first testing his value on the market to sign elsewhere.
The Atlanta Hawks have been mentioned in rumors for weeks as being where the 30-year-old forward could end up, considering they're one of the few teams with the available space against their salary cap.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports, the Hawks indeed are "in play in an attempt to acquire" Hayward from the Celtics.
With around $44 million in cap space, the Hawks have plenty of room to sign Hayward to a new deal, and he'd make for a great playmaking piece alongside star point guard Trae Young.
Atlanta reportedly isn't the only team interested in his services, however.
We'll see what happens.
