After deciding to opt-out of his final-year player-option, former Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward is now an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team in the NBA. There’s one potential hurdle— there aren’t many teams with salary cap space as in the case of the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers have been a potential landing spot for Hayward since the NBA offseason had begun. Indiana has reportedly been interested in landing the former Butler star and landing with their organization is a ‘scenario that appeals to Hayward.’
It seems the narrative has been building that Indiana needs to break up the two big men in their frontcourt with Myles Turner being the most likely choice. This came after the introductory press conference for new head coach Nate Bjorkgren stating desire to experiment with the pairing.
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The bottom line for the Pacers is that too much success was experienced by playing TJ Warren at the four in the NBA bubble to justify not keeping him int hat spot. A potential sign-and-trade scenario involving Hayward for a trade package centered around Turner is a mutually beneficial scenario.
By landing Hayward, the Pacers would be able to play Sabonis as the lone big man in the lineup with a true four-out offensive attack. There would be even less of a need to embrace Victor Oladipo as the organization can transition towards moving on from him.
The Boston Celtics still face a need for a long-term answer at center since the departure of Al Horford last offseason. Boston has attempted to make it work with options like Robert Williams II, Enes Kanter, and Daniel Theis— none of which was sufficient in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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