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The Boston Celtics will enter the 2024 NBA Offseason with not much to offer free agents outside of the veteran’s minimum. However, because certain players have fallen out of their prime, the veteran’s minimum may be the best they can hope for.
Gordon Hayward could fit this description, which could make him a free agent target for the Celtics. Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey explained why he believes Hayward is an “optimistic” target for the Celtics.
“Going from a high-value player to one on a minimum contract can happen fast in the NBA, and Gordon Hayward may have reached that point this season,” Bailey wrote in a March 19 story. “He turns 34 this month and is averaging just 4.3 points since being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.”
Bailey added that Hayward could play a role similar to Joe Ingles, who Bailey also floated as a Celtics target.
“For Boston, he could fill a role similar to the one described for Ingles above while being younger and bringing more experience as a volume scorer.”
Back in 2017, Hayward signed a max contract with the Celtics. Sadly he suffered a career-altering leg injury five minutes into his first game with the team. He is no longer ayward is in the last year of a four-year, $120 million contract he signed with the Thunder in 2020.
Gordon Hayward Reveals Why Former Celtics Team Failed
Hayward played for one of the most infamous Celtics teams ever: the 2018-19 team. After coming within one win of making the NBA Finals without him or Kyrie Irving, the Celtics had title expectations only to fall very short of them.
As a guest on “Podcast P with Paul George,” Hayward explained what went wrong with that team.
“We all had too many agendas, and the agenda to win the whole thing was not the main one,” Hayward said, per the show’s X account. “Not to blame anyone either because I think it was all human nature.”
Hayward revealed what his mindset was going in while adding what other Celtics’ mindets were at that time.
I’m coming back from where the last season I played, I was an All-Star, so, I’m trying to prove that I’m still an All-Star,” said Hayward. “Kyrie was hurt the year before, too; [the Celtics] didn’t miss the playoffs. So he’s trying to prove this is still his team. Then you’ve got [Jayson Tatum] and Jaylen [Brown] and Terry [Rozier] coming off where they’re all starting, make it to the Eastern Conference Finals the year before. They’re all trying to prove, like, ‘We’ve arrived.’”
Despite the loaded talent, the Celtics lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games in 2019.
Gordon Hayward’s Red Flag
Hayward has developed a reputation for being injury-prone. Since leaving Boston, he has played 44, 49, 50, and 38 games over the last four seasons because of injuries.
Missing as many games as he has may drive down his price tag when he enters free agency. At 34 and with his rap sheet, Hayward may focus more on winning at this point in his career.
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