You're right how arrogant to assume that playing for a big market team that has been in 3 of the last 4 conference finals and playing for a small market team that has never won a playoff series in its history aren't the same in terms of basketball relevance.
Boston isn't that much bigger a market, and markets don't really matter in the NBA. OKC is a small market and it was one of the centers of the NBA world for years.
Pretty sure Hayward as the at worst 3rd best player on this Celtics team wasn't going to be wasting much talent on the bench. A Celtics team which by the way even without him was basically picked as tied for 2nd in the east which I wouldn't exactly call a borderline contender, compared to a Charlotte team that was picked as one of the worst in the east.
He wasn't going to be 4th banana the rest of his prime. He had 1 more year on his contract. For someone who said that winning a ring was paramount, to bail on what was the best team he's ever been on is IMO something.
Yeah, specifically there not being a material difference between living in Boston or Charlotte. I’ve lived in both and it’s hard to be more polar opposite than the two.
Huh? You don't think after all the injuries there were some damn good reasons to go for that contract now instead of playing out his old contract?
He did try to go to Indiana, except that the Pacers’ GM reneged on him. So he chose to go to a team that needed him.
Obviously there were because he took the contract but he's unlikely to be as close to a NBA title in the next 4 years.
SSS aside... blocking 4 shots/gm, probably gets him DPOY votes. But his offense isn't really keeping up with his defense.
I'd still much rather turn that salary slot into a non-center.
He's doing a lot more than blocking shots, he's also leading the league in deflections. Many of the good writers have him as a top 2-3 DPOY candidate, he's having a ridiculous start in part because he's looking more mobile. On offense the big difference is a few missed 3s, otherwise he's the same player he was or a bit better on offense. Basically if he goes back to hitting 3s at his career rate he's Rudy Gobert with range.
When he initially signed with Boston, he believed he had a chance to be a primary scoring option for a title team, and that obviously wouldn't have been the case if he opted in or re-signed here. So, I don't feel like there's a contradiction there. And obviously some players are more or less (Nerlens Noel) risk averse than others. We have to assume that for Gordon, winning a title as the 4th or 5th option didn't really mean as much to him as all that extra guaranteed money and the ability to play a more significant offensive role on a different team. He may feel like he can ring chase as a 6th man/bench type after he plays out this contract with Charlotte as well, which is possible if he has better luck with injuries this time around.
Yeah, I think it would have been strange. Somewhat risky for him too.
I'm not saying that GH owed the Cs anything. GH had his best opportunity to win a ring in his career. I wouldn't have been surprised if he took it - not out of obligation to the franchise but for fulfilling personal goals. Because it would have been his best chance up to now (and for the next four years) to win a ring. But he chose not to.
On his podcast Zach Lowe said that the Celtics offered in the range of what the Hornets offered. I think he said it was almost 30M a year for 4 years. I’m pretty sure Hayward just wanted a fresh start somewhere else (and who could blame him, his entire Boston tenure was snakebit)
One of the traps we can fall into is assuming that players think the same of money as we do. Any of us would look at $180M and decide that there's no reason to ever want for more. However, Hayward is looking at it as potentially leaving $75M or more on the table if he were to opt in and suffer a Klay Thompson injury. And I cannot blame him for not wanting to risk $75M for an outside shot of winning a ring that many former NBA players end up auctioning off later in their lives.
I don't doubt this is true.
I doubt they were all that close to matching the Hornets. Unless Danny had figured out a way of unloading Kemba and keeping Gordon, which I would have been happy with (but didn't appeal to GH)
Not to turn this into the Myles Turner thread but here's an article - https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2087264 - that suggests that IND has changed its defensive philosophy to run people off the 3P line and then funnel players towards MT, which results in his huge blocks numbers. (A little video included.) Downside appears to be that IND is giving up way more fouls than last year too.
If I had already made $150MM in my career? I mean my wife isn't going to say to me, "Play where ever you feel most comfortable"?
Maybe Gordon and his wife didn’t like those things in Boston? It wouldn’t be surprising considering where they grew up.
Not every woman is a money grubbing whore, man. Perhaps his wife was more concerned with what would make Gordon happier.
Many women are more inclined to think about the financial security of their kids, grandkids and their kids. That doesn’t make them whores or money grubbing. I’d take the money too.....how many workers would decline pay raises in their jobs if the opportunity presented itself? CTC
Pretty confident that kids, grand kids, kids' grandkids, grandkids' grandkids, grandparents, dogs, cats, birds, and everyone else is already taken care of.
Why do people keep calling Boston a “good situation” for two Midwesterners raising a young family? Culture shock is rarely a good thing when you may not be comfortable with the lifestyle change.
The Hayward's are pretty good in that department. This contract difference is the difference between getting a 5th house or just renting an entire Ritz hotel for a one month vacation. It's funny money at that level.
Exactly. I don’t remember this much analysis of Gordon’s decision when he left a better team in Utah to come to Boston in the first place. It’s a fool’s errand to try to figure out what drives these decisions when we know so little about them personally or what their motivations are.
That's because you weren't reading the Utah Jazz boards back then.
Yeah, it's quite possible they just didn't like Boston and/or the intensity of Boston fans. And that's absolutely fine. I have some friends from the Chicago area that moved to Boston and absolutely hated it. It's not for everyone.
Hate to pile on since you seem like a decent guy who has a reasonable (yet still lacking, esp wrt OOB defensive alignments) baseline of basketball knowledge...but the Boston arrogance is pretty strong. Maybe if you spent a little time outside of New England you could gain some perspective? I know it’s COVID and all but pop your head out of moms basement in Southie or Winthrop or where ever it is you are and take stock.
lol....yep. You should put this in a place to cut/paste...apt for many, many threads over the years.
