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Gordon Hayward: “Isaiah Thomas Ultimately Helped Win Me Over”

It was an incredibly busy summer for Danny Ainge. He traded away the No. 1 pick, because he knew that Jayson Tatum, who the Celtics wanted, would still be available for their (then) No.3 pick. Then, Ainge managed to sign All Star forward Gordon Hayward. That would have been a great summer already, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Because in a deal no one really saw coming, the Celtics brought in Kyrie Irving. They had to give up the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 draft pick, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, a second round pick, and, most gruesome for Celtics fans, Isaiah Thomas.

Thomas was the heart and soul of the team and gave his absolute all for the franchise. The fan favorite identified with the Celtics franchise like almost no other player has since Paul Pierce, and even played through injuries and personal tragedies.

Now, Hayward has written a blog post on his website about his summer, and it featured one very interesting part – the huge influence Thomas had in his decision to come to Boston.

He didn’t just help recruit me to Boston—he was a big piece of that recruitment. He had talked a lot about city and how it was different to be a Celtic. He talked about the intensity of playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, playing at the Garden in the playoffs, and how much fun it was, and how much fun he had playing in Boston.

All of that ultimately helped win me over. And by the time of the trade, I had already started to build a little bit of a relationship with him.

(via GordonHayward20.life)

It turns out that Isaiah Thomas not only was the team’s heart and soul who gave them his all, but also one of the deciding factors for Hayward to come to Boston.

I really hope Thomas will have an amazing year with the Cavs once he recovered from his hip injury. As much as I understand that this was a business decision (Ainge said himself it was the hardest decision in his career), I really hope that Thomas will beat the Celtics’ a** in next year’s playoffs.