Celtics Reportedly 'Slight Favorite' To Sign Gordon Hayward
BOSTON (CBS) -- The NBA's silly season is in full swing, but at least this latest entry is bringing some good news to Boston Celtics fans.
According to Jordan Schultz of The Huffington Post, the Celtics are now the "slight favorite" to sign free agent All-Star Gordon Hayward:
Schulz noted in previous Tweets that with Kevin Durant winning an NBA championship in his first season with the Golden State Warriors, other players will be looking to create similar super teams around the NBA. Putting Hayward with Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford wouldn't really elevate the Celtics to super team status, but he'd be a great addition to a team that won 53 games in the regular season and went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
Plenty of reporters will have similar reports on the Hayward front leading up to July 1, and you can likely change the team name depending on the day of the week. But the fit between Hayward and the Celtics is pretty easy to see, with Boston's need for a scoring wing and Hayward's relationship with Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. So the speculation and rumors will continue, and ramp up, leading up the start of free agency.
But perhaps the most telling sign of Hayward's intentions came on Tuesday night when Thomas followed Hayward on Instagram:
Thomas did unfollow Hayward shortly after creating a storm of speculation on the web, but it comes just a few days after Hayward's wife sent out a photo of their young daughter wearing a shamrock shirt that said "Go Green" on Instagram. She later deleted the post with an explanation, but it should also be noted that Thomas' wife also started to follow Robyn Hayward on Instagram on Tuesday. (Update: Celtics forward Al Horford started following Hayward on Wednesday)
Very, very important information for the NBA rumor mill.
This kind of tomfoolery and over-analyzing will continue for the next few weeks. Teams can reach a verbal agreement with free agents starting on July 1 and can officially sign players starting on July 6. Until then, enjoy the silly season.
