Boston Celtics: 3 free agent steals Cs MUST pursue

Free-Agent Steal for Boston Celtics No. 3) Gordon Hayward

Look, at $34 million, Gordon Hayward‘s player option for the 2020-21 season is anything but a steal. So how does he end up in this final slide of the Houdini’s list of potential free agency steals?

Here’s how: Hayward opts out of the final year of his deal and ends up re-upping on a multi-year, team-friendly contract to ride out the remainder of his prime in a Boston Celtics uniform.

So naturally, the follow-up question is this: what salary figure constitutes a steal?

To us, a number at or lower than $20 million would be a free agency steal. A three-year extension worth $60 million (with a partial or non-guarantee in the final year of the deal) would be ideal for the injury-prone former All-Star.

A two-year deal worth $50 million would also be acceptable under the same conditions of the aforementioned offer. Basically, Hayward needs to make less money than Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, and eventually, Jayson Tatum. It would clear things up with the pecking order and would likely make Hayward less of a target by fans.

I know I would try to find potential Hayward deals with far less frequency if he wasn’t overpaid. If he can negotiate with the team and strike an acceptable salary figure, Hayward could be a free agency steal during the 2020 NBA free agency window.