Boston Celtics: The 2 ways Gordon Hayward can end up in Miami

One former NBA executive recently floated the idea of Gordon Hayward ending up with the Miami Heat this summer. The Houdini is here to outline how exactly that can happen and what it means for the Boston Celtics.

In the middle of what has quickly become a seemingly endless NBA season suspension, John Hollinger–the former ESPN Insider analyst turned Memphis Grizzlies front office executive–threw out a pretty bold scenario for this upcoming summer that could greatly shift the power balance in the Eastern Conference. It involved Boston Celtics star Gordon Hayward being courted to another franchise…one the C’s have a storied history with:

"The team to worry about, at least a little, is Miami. Hayward nearly signed there in 2016 before picking the Celtics, and the Heat are absolutely in win-now mode. Miami can’t offer the same money in the short term — I project them to have $27 million in room, and that number shrinks if the current, pre-COVID-19 projected cap number ends up adjusted downward due to the ramifications from the shutdown."

While he would later go on to say that the scenario may not be plausible due to the Heat’s plans for the summer of 2021–where premiere names like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo are set to hit the open market–teams often pivot at a moment’s notice if it means helping improve.

And make no mistake about it, Hayward being added to Miami would improve their chances of contending in 2021 while simultaneously weakening one of their main rivals in the Boston Celtics. The question then, is how could this scenario happen?

Here are the 2 ways Hayward can end up on the Heat this summer: