The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers each have two players that had player option decisions to make this NBA offseason— Gordon Hayward and Andre Drummond. Could a potential trade involving both players occur?
According to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, the talk of a Gordon Hayward-Andre Drummond swap has been ‘heating up’ across the NBA.
“Something I’ve been hearing across the league the last few days is while we don’t know how the Gordon Hayward situation is going to shake out, something that could be possible is a Gordon Hayward-Andre Drummond swap. That’s something that a lot of league execs I’ve been talking to have discussed.”
Making a move for Gordon Hayward is a logical option for the Cleveland Cavaliers given the difficulty of finding talented wings in the NBA. The team did add Isaac Okoro using the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, but both players can fill either forward position.
The Boston Celtics proved to be unable to move up in the 2020 NBA Draft in order to gain the necessary position for either James Wiseman or Onyeka Okongwu. A strong alternative option would be to capitalize on Hayward’s value on his way out while adding a high-level big man in Andre Drummond.
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The possibility of a trade between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers would hinge on Gordon Hayward’s decision to potentially opt-in for his $34.1 million player option. Both teams would be able to simply facilitate a trade as Andre Drummond has already exercised his option.
Otherwise, the Boston Celtics would have to try to facilitate a potential trade with whichever team Gordon Hayward chooses to sign with in NBA free agency. That would severely limit their options to find a particular talent they desire.
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