Could Hayward have signed any deal at all with Indiana that would have fit under their cap? For example, could he have signed a 5 year, $75 million deal with the right to opt out after a year? If possible, it allows him to get to Indiana, provides him some insurance, but would enable him to get paid next summer provided he doesn't have a major injury.
The whole sequence of events just confuses me, a bit. Obviously we don't know what's going on with him, and he did sign an offer sheet with Charlotte before, I'm just struggling to see how this is a great outcome for him (I know he got a lot of money). But, he's joining a true dumpster fire of a team. I just don't get it. You sort of think his agent would have acted as a go-between for Ainge and Pritchard and have something mostly worked out before opting out of the contract.