Boston Celtics: what a perfect offseason could look like for the Cs

3) Gordon Hayward opts-out of contract, re-signs on a team-friendly deal

Since signing his $128 million deal in the summer of 2017, Gordon Hayward’s tenure with the Boston Celtics has been one heck of a roller coaster ride.

From his opening night injury and his year-long physical rehab, to his 2018-19 physically cleared, but mentally still recovering follow up season, for the most part of his time donning green & white there have been far more downs than ups.

However, 2019-20 has certainly seen the proverbial roller coaster cart begin to make its way back up the tracks.

Through 45 games played, the forward has managed to put up impressive averages of 17.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while stroking it at a career-high efficiency of 50 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep.

Proving to be the team’s best facilitator and easily one of their most reliable scorers, Gordon Hayward finds himself playing great basketball in year three of his four-year player-option deal.

Now, with this in mind, while he would be guaranteed to make a hefty sum of $34 million if he were to opt-in to the final year of his deal this offseason, Hayward should strongly consider opting out and, in turn, potentially re-signing with the Cs on a more team-friendly deal for one main reason: financial security.

As previously alluded to, Hayward has battled injuries for a large majority of his time in Beantown. From his left leg injury that impacted him for the better part of two seasons to his left-hand break in mid-November that kept him sidelined for six weeks, it’s an unfortunate scenario that the label “injury-prone” will likely follow the forward for the next couple of season, thus theoretically making him, and other prospective front offices worry of a potential injury in the future that could cause him to miss out on the most he can make from a new contract.

Frankly, if Hayward wishes to stay on the safe side and secure financial stability to the best of his ability, what better time to strike than now, when he’s scoring at the fourth-highest per-game clip for his career and at an all-time high NBA career scoring efficiency.

Despite our hypothetical trade articles that see him shipped off on numerous occasions, we actually believe that a healthy Gordon Hayward is a key factor to a championship bid this season and, honestly, moving forward.

If the Boston Celtics could find a way to convince him to sign a, say, three-year, $80 million deal with a team option this offseason, it could keep this fifth-ranked core intact for the foreseeable future while also giving the Celtics an out in the final year should things not end up working.

All in all, Hayward has not been able to live up to his lucrative contract. However, his production from this season certainly could warrant a $25-27 million per year salary or, in other words, the fourth-highest payday on the roster — which is what it would be once Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum’s extensions kick in.