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Despite some last-minute hemming and hawing, Gordon Hayward was always headed to the Boston Celtics.

It was the logical option, as it gave him a far easier path to deep playoff runs, fewer competitors for All-Star berths and a better shot at building a legacy with one of the NBA's most prominent organizations.

ESPN.com's Chris Haynes was the first to report Hayward's intention to sign with Boston, and Gordon Hayward later confirmed it, via an essay on The Players' Tribune. The deal: four years, $128 million, with a fourth-year player option.

From the Celtics' perspective, signing Hayward is vindication for a deliberate and occasionally frustrating approach to roster-building. The Celtics refused to part with assets in a trade for Jimmy Butler last offseason, and they seemingly didn't present the Indiana Pacers with a package enticing enough to land Paul George this summer.

Boston wrapped its arms tightly around its war chest and waited as legions of critics piled on, questioning the value of those picks and young players, wondering what the end game was—if not some kind of big-swing trade.

This. This was the end game.

The Celtics still have all of those assets. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown remain in the fold. The Brooklyn Nets' unprotected 2018 first-round pick is undisturbed. As many as three other incoming 2019 first-rounders are also untouched.

For that reason, Hayward is better for the Celtics than either Butler or George would have been.

Those other star wings would have cost Boston something, and George, specifically, would have been a rental. Hayward fits into the cap space the Celtics were going to spend on somebody one way or the other. This isn't quite getting something for nothing, but in the world of NBA superstar acquisitions, it's as close as it gets.

That he also addresses several key schematic needs puts the move over the top.

Boston's offense was fine last season, but it stalled out in the Eastern Conference Finals, posting a 102.5 rating against a Cleveland Cavaliers defense that ranked among the worst in the league after the All-Star break. Isaiah Thomas' hip injury hampered him against Cleveland, causing his postseason to end early.

As much as anything, that is why Boston needed Hayward.

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Thomas' status as the team's main creator and only serious offensive threat made the Celtics easy to scheme against, particularly in late-game situations. Though Thomas was so brilliant as a clutch scorer that his team's predictability didn't matter during much of the year, it cost the Celtics in the playoffs.

Boston needed a second dribble-pass-shoot threat—someone who could share the burden with Thomas, stand in for him in the event of injury and generally complicate an offense gone too basic. However, few top scoring options are also deadly threats away from the ball.

Hayward and Thomas give the Celtics two of them.

As Scott Rafferty of Sporting News noted: "Thomas ranked in the 92.4 percentile with an average of 1.22 points per spot-up possession last season, and it made up 13.8 percent of his offense in total. Hayward was almost as accurate in those situations, ranking in the 84.1 percentile with 1.14 points per spot-up possession."

Beyond standstill shooting, both Hayward and Thomas are devastatingly effective on drives (Thomas led the league with 9.5 points per game on drives last season). They're also excellent coming off screens, with Thomas' speed making him especially hard to chase, and his isolation skill turning switches into scheduled executions. Each can run a pick-and-roll when the action swings to the weak side as well.

Having a second player who can do everything needed to keep an offense running will force opponents' defensive focus to be diluted.

Hayward and Thomas: Points Per Play and Percentile Ranking Off Screen Pick-and-Roll Ball-Handler Hayward 1.12 - 83rd Percentile 0.98 - 87th Percentile Thomas 1.15 - 85th Percentile 1.04 - 94th Percentile NBA.com

Devoting full attention to Thomas motoring off picks means Hayward has fewer eyes on him as a screen-and-roll ball-handler. Even as decoys for one another, Thomas and Hayward provide immense value.

Trap one, and the other can attack with an advantage. Deny either of them the ball, and you've taken a help defender out of the equation.

And good luck handling a 1-3 pick-and-pop involving both.

After Thomas went down with his hip injury in the conference finals, having Hayward in the fold offers premium insurance. Hayward can cover for Thomas in the event of injury and, better still, spell Boston's point guard throughout the season. Like Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston, Hayward and Thomas can stagger their playing time such that the Celtics never log meaningful minutes without an elite offensive threat running things.

More broadly, Hayward gives Boston another versatile wing in an era where it's impossible to have too many. He logged 30 percent of his minutes at power forward last year, according to Basketball Reference, and he'll join Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the Celtics' corps of new-age tweeners. Even Marcus Smart can tangle with undersized bigs.

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If you're trying to compete in today's NBA—especially with the Warriors or Cavs—this is exactly the kind of roster you build.

Perhaps Boston won't retain all of its like-sized players. Maybe it'll finally use a few of them in a trade to add another star. But for now, the Celts have an embarrassment of riches—and that's without even considering all of those picks.

Hayward left a good thing with the Jazz. Utah, a team built the right way, ended up on the wrong end of a great player's personal decision.

But because of the specific fit and larger incentives for Hayward in Boston, it had to be like this.

Without sacrificing anything, the Celtics got exactly what they needed: a player who shores up weaknesses and puts them in a position to challenge the Cavaliers for conference supremacy right now. Even if Boston still falls short, it's only a matter of time before LeBron James ages or exits, ceding control of a relatively barren East to a team that, somehow, has maximized its present without sacrificing its future.

Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference or NBA.com.

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