Celtics forward Gordon Hayward has a big decision to make this offseason.
On the surface, the decision is to either opt into the final year of his contract with the Celtics for $34 million, or to opt out and become a free agent.
But thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s more complicated than that. If Hayward opts in, there’s no guarantee he will actually end up getting that $34 million if league revenue remains down and more money is held in escrow. One estimate suggests Hayward could stand to lose as much as $10 million.
So, if Hayward believes he is going to lose a significant chunk of his salary anyways, he could potentially decide to opt out and take a hit in his base salary this year in exchange for more long-term security in following seasons when the NBA’s revenue and escrow situations hopefully return to normal post-pandemic.
Appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast Wednesday, Ryen Russillo said he is hearing that Hayward does in fact want to opt out and do just that, but only if he knows the right deal is going to be out there for him (discussion starts around 56 minutes in). Russillo mentioned the Atlanta Hawks as one team that might be interested, as they have expressed a desire to add a veteran to their starting five.
“I heard Gordon Hayward does want out, but I don’t know if he’s going to get the money,” Russillo said. “He’s not opting out of that huge number unless he knows he’s getting the deal. That could be an Atlanta solution even though it doesn’t make a ton of sense. But I could also understand Atlanta saying, ‘Hey, whatever, we didn’t have to give up anything. We used all this cap space. We’ll figure out which young players we want to play.’ But does Gordon Hayward not like the current situation in Boston enough to then want to go ahead and play with Trae Young and watch him shoot a million times? I don’t know.”
There have also been rumors that the Celtics could explore trading Hayward this offseason, and there’s also the option of Hayward opting out and then re-signing with the Celtics for more years and less annual money, which could provide Hayward that longer-term security while providing the Celtics some luxury tax relief.
It’s worth noting that’s what many expected to happen with Al Horford last offseason, only to have him sign with Philadelphia instead. The Celtics were able to turn around and sign Kemba Walker after losing Horford last year, but they would not have the same kind of option if Hayward left this offseason, as his departure would reportedly only open up a $9 million mid-level exception.
Simmons, for one, thinks it would be bad news for Boston if Hayward left.
“By the way, that would screw the Celtics if he opted out,” Simmons said. “Because they would much rather have him as an expiring contract/hope-that-he’s-good-this-year guy vs. you just lose the asset.”