Gordon Hayward is now part of the Charlotte Hornets after the team agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with the Boston Celtics. Hayward lands in Charlotte ready to receive $120 million over four years. That is a pretty good deal for the player, no doubt about it. However, it’s not the same for the Boston Celtics, who missed some good opportunities to get more than nothing in return for the forward.
They received very good offers but decided to turn them down. One of the biggest ones came from the Indiana Pacers, who put a good deal on the table, but the Celtics surprisingly declined it. According to J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star, the Pacers offered Myles Turner and a first-round pick in exchange for Hayward but the Celtics decided not to take it.
“The Indiana Pacers offered the Boston Celtics Myles Turner, a first-round pick and a rotation player for Gordon Hayward last week, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told IndyStar.”
This is an incredible move. Myles Turner is a very good player, a solid defender that can shoot from beyond the arc. Landing him and a first-rounder is a no brainer for any other team in the league, but not for Danny Ainge. The Celtics now lost Hayward for nothing, hurting their plans to keep their core together to run it back and try to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010.
Ainge has been criticized for his decisions as GM and this one won’t sit well with fans. Unlike the front office, they didn’t want Hayward and the player would have preferred to go to Indiana, where he’s originally from, and not Charlotte. But, this is business and Boston has a unique way of doing them.
