Gordon Hayward looked like a sure bet to join the Celtics on Tuesday afternoon after news leaked through multiple reporters that his long-awaited choice would be Boston. However, minutes later, the reports of his decision to leave the Utah Jazz for the Celtics were denied and all hell broke loose.
Hayward’s agent quickly shot down reports that he had chosen to sign in Boston this summer, and now it looks like the leaks may have caused Hayward’s camp to regroup and reassess the decision, delaying an announcement.
The latest word from Hayward’s agent, as relayed by Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe on Tuesday afternoon, is that the free agent might take longer than the end of the day to think things through and make his decision.
Hayward's agent Mark Bartelstein on whether final word is coming today: "That was the goal, but now we've got to kind of regroup here a bit"
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) July 4, 2017
So what happened here? Did Hayward make the call that he was going to Boston and it leaked out before he could tell anyone? Did he tell the Celtics before the Jazz, then get cold feet when it broke before he could tell them? Or did he really never make a decision, and more than a few journalists got too trigger-happy all at once?
The last one seems the most unlikely, but who can know for sure? All we can tell here is that the news got out in a way Hayward wasn’t comfortable with, and now he’s cooling his jets for a bit before deciding his future.
Fans and front offices of the teams involved are now set to wait a bit longer. But for some reason the president of the Utah Jazz even tweeted to make it clear that everything is fine in Utah.
We trust Gordon and his agent that no decision has been made. Good communication all day and a great relationship.
— Steve Starks (@StevenStarks) July 4, 2017
Nothing’s wrong here! We’re not even worried a little bit!
Whatever went down on Tuesday afternoon, someone messed up and a lot of well respected reporters were given information by some sources that either wasn’t true or wasn’t ready for public consumption and that’s bothered at Hayward and his camp.
Just spoke w/GH'sagent, says his client hasn't made a decision, is "upset someone would report that. He's trying to re-evaluate everything."
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@ASherrodblakely) July 4, 2017
According to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, Hayward has been agonizing over his decision, and has changed his mind a number of times over the weekend on where he wants to continue his career.
League source tells me "Gordon has changed his mind four times in the last four days"
— tribjazz (@tribjazz) July 4, 2017
We’ll have to hold out a little bit longer to find out if he’s changed his mind a fifth time after the leaks got out, and unfortunately, if you skipped a Fourth of July cookout to keep tabs on Hayward you’ll have to keep on waiting and probably missed out on a good time for no reason.
