Update: Hayward’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, says Gordon hasn’t inked a contract with Boston as of yet. “Gordon hasn’t made a decision yet,” Bartelstein said. “We are still working through it.”

After giving the first seven years of his burgeoning career to the fans of Utah, it was reported that star forward Gordon Hayward will be parting ways with the Jazz on Tuesday, July 4. Hayward’s decision means that he will be heading to the Eastern Conference to join Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford and the Celtics team in Boston.

Leading up to his decision, Utah, Boston, and Miami had been in a race for Hayward, who reached career bests in scoring (21.9 per game) and rebounds (5.4 per game) in 2017. Hayward made for an alluring pick-up from a league that saw him make his first All-Star game after gradually bettering his statistics with each year he’s played in the league. Under Hayward’s production, the Jazz experienced their first playoff birth since 2012.

Boston now faces the task of creating cap space to sign Hayward. They are expected to pull the offer they gave Kelly Olynyk and to renounce free agents Jonas Jerebko, James Young and Gerald Green, and will also waive the contracts of Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson, which will leave them with $27.6 million to work with.

VIA