With rumors circulating that Gordon Hayward could opt out of the final season of his contract, the Boston Celtics could soon be looking for his replacement in the lineup.
Though we here at the Houdini have constantly been thinking up ways in which the Boston Celtics could rid of the final year of Gordon Hayward‘s contract via offseason trade should they believe it’s time to move on, based on recent rumblings it appears that the forward could make his way out of Beantown under his own volition.
During his time on the Bill Simons Podcast last week, ESPN writer Ryen Russillo brought up the fact that Hayward may be interested in declining the final year of his contract with the shamrocks.
"“I’ve heard Gordon Hayward does want out, but I don’t know if he’s going to get the money. He’s not opting out of that huge number unless he knows he’s getting the deal.”"
Should this happen, there’ll be a 6-9 sized hole at the small forward slot that will need to be filled come the start of the 2020-21 campaign. Though the team may not have the cap-flexibility they’ve had over the past several offseasons to bring on top-tier talent, they will still have the opportunity to bring on a few viable options to serve as the team’s replacement.
Here are 3 specific players they could target:
Gordon Hayward replacement No. 1) Deni Avdija
One of the most recent rumors pertaining to moves the Boston Celtics could make this offseason was about how Danny Ainge and co. could be interested in moving up in the upcoming NBA Draft.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the Celtics are looking to trade all three selections in this year’s draft — 14, 26, & 30 — in an effort to move up further in the lottery. Should this turn out to be the case, and they accomplish such a move, Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Deni Avdija may be a name to target.
The 19-year-old possesses a great combination of distribution skills, scoring touch, and sound defensive chops that have many NBA teams clamoring about the idea of landing the Israeli-born baller.
Avdija’s own trainer, Eftim Bogoev, went on to say that, though teams may be intrigued by his talents now, in a few years time he could prove to be even better than advertised:
"“Deni has great potential. And I can tell you that he’s just 50 percent maximized right now. You can imagine how good he’ll be in the next two to three years if he continues to work like he’s working now.”"
His willingness to get his teammates involved on offense coupled with his high basketball IQ should make him an instant contributor within the team’s Brad Stevens-led scheme from day one and, should the Celtics find a way to move up in the draft, if available, the team’s front office will be hard-pressed to pass on the overseas star.