The Atlanta Hawks are armed with a whole lot of cap space in an offseason where the pool of available free agents isn’t particularly robust. As a result, if they want to spend big, they might need to look into some other avenues, and a report by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports indicates that they might turn to the trade market to acquire talent.
Haynes brings word that the Hawks have some amount of interest in Gordon Hayward of the Boston Celtics. Word dropped earlier in the day, via Zach Lowe of ESPN, that Hayward and the Celtics extended the deadline for him to decide on his $34.2 million player option. Now, Haynes reports that the Hawks have a few potential avenues to explore a move for Hayward.
The Atlanta Hawks are in play in an attempt to acquire Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
A sign-and-trade deal is a possible route, but Atlanta is equipped with the most cap space in the league at around $44 million and can simply sign Hayward to a hefty multi-year deal if he decided to decline his option.
Haynes went on to report that Hayward is interested in the Hawks as well, and that the team believes he could be another playmaker alongside Trae Young on the team’s offense. Hayward signed a big money deal to join the Celtics from the Utah Jazz during the 2017 offseason, but has struggled to consistently stay on the floor due to injuries. Last season, Hayward averaged 17.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 33.5 minutes per game for the Celtics.