Gordon Hayward 'joins Charlotte Hornets in four-year, $120m deal'

Gordon Hayward signs four-year, $120m deal with Charlotte Hornets; 30-year-old turned down $34.2m player option to return to Boston Celtics this week; Hornets beat several sides to Hayward's signature

By Reuters

Image: Gordon Hayward turned down his $34.2m player option and left the Boston Celtics earlier this week

Gordon Hayward has agreed a four-year, $120m (£90.3m) deal to join the Charlotte Hornets, according to ESPN.

The monster deal punctuates a busy week for Charlotte, who drafted point guard LaMelo Ball at No 3 overall earlier in the week.

The Athletic reported that Hayward's deal is fully guaranteed.

Charlotte are coming off a 23-42 campaign and have missed the playoffs for four straight seasons.

Hayward enjoyed a bounce-back season last year, in which he averaged 17.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 52 games (all starts) with the Boston Celtics.

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He has averaged 15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists across his 10-year career, which included seven seasons with the Utah Jazz and the last three seasons with the Celtics.

In Hayward's first game with Boston, he sustained a gruesome leg injury that cost him the rest of the season. He averaged 11.5 points in a mostly reserve role upon his return in 2018-19 before returning to the starting lineup last season.

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Hayward recently turned down his $34.2m (£25.7m) player option to return to the Celtics for a fourth season.

Several teams, including Hayward's home state Indiana Pacers, were interested in adding him before Charlotte sealed the deal.

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