SALT LAKE CITY -- While numerous reports suggested Wednesday night that the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz have discussed a sign-and-trade deal focused around Gordon Hayward and Jae Crowder, some rival league executives wondered whether the Celtics could find enough incentive to explore such an option.

Unless the Jazz were to send comparable value Boston's way, any conversation about such a trade should be a short one. And sending comparable value would be difficult. Crowder's deal ranks as one of the NBA's best bargains and, despite his previous irritation about Hayward receiving cheers from the Boston crowd, the duo would actually be dangerous in small-ball lineups. Given the Celtics current roster construction, Crowder could potentially start at power forward next to Hayward, giving the team a dynamic, high-powered first unit.

Dealing Crowder for next to nothing should not be an option for Boston. It's possible the Jazz could offer enough to entice the Celtics, but, again, the return should need to be fair; though the Celtics need to dump some salary to sign Hayward, they can shop around the entire league for a trade partner before officially acquiring the All-Star. Hayward announced his intentions to sign with the Celtics on Tuesday.

Even if Utah does extend a fair sign-and-trade offer for Crowder, Boston's front office would likely have reservations about dealing its probable closing power forward -- and one of the few guys on the roster with any chance of defending LeBron James in a playoff series. For all the young wings the Celtics have assembled, Jayson Tatum will be a rookie and Jaylen Brown still hasn't proven himself ready for big minutes. Hayward and Crowder are the only established, sizable wings.

That's partly why two rival league executives expressed extreme skepticism Crowder would be involved in any potential sign-and-trade.

"That's not gonna actually happen," one said.

The Celtics do need to clear cap space to fit Hayward's new contract, though, which is why the team will likely need to move one of Crowder, Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley. ESPN reported Wednesday night that Boston has shopped all three players, but that's the most expected news of the summer. Assuming Hayward signs for the full max, the Celtics will in all likelihood need to move a player of at least Smart's salary to clear the room. They could try to get a little creative in a money-saving deal, as Michael Pina started to explore toward the end of his piece here, but they still need to open enough cash for Hayward.

Because of Crowder's contract situation, he has value beyond his playing worth. His bargain deal still has three years, while Smart and Bradley are both set to hit free agency next summer alongside Isaiah Thomas. It would be tough, and probably financially un-wise, to pay each of the three guards a substantial raise. Furthermore, Crowder's team-friendly contract could be even more helpful in Boston once Thomas makes a heap of money alongside the max contracts of Hayward and Al Horford. The Celtics roster will grow expensive quickly, and a cheap, productive, two-way player would help the team limit costs.

UPDATE: The following option laid out by Ryan Bernardoni actually would not work under salary-cap rules. Sorry for the confusion. The rest of the post stands.

Despite the above notes about Crowder, the Celtics could potentially benefit from some variation of a sign-and-trade with Utah. CelticsHub salary-cap expert Ryan Bernardoni believes a sign-and-trade could theoretically make it possible to clear the cap space for Hayward without moving Crowder, Bradley or Smart. That wouldn't be without sacrifices, though.

From Bernardoni's latest piece:

Rozier's a young guard coming off a promising postseason and it would be painful to move him for nothing. Plus, again, the Celtics might need to move on from either Smart or Bradley next summer because of their contract situations. If that's the case, dealing one now for assets could be more appealing than dumping a 23-year-old who recently turned in some productive playoff minutes.

Seen some talk of a sign-and-trade for Hayward. Unless Utah throws in more assets, Celtics have no incentive to agree. — Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) July 6, 2017

I think they'd rather have Rozier and what they get for Smart than Smart https://t.co/tOVHDbbdE9 — Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) July 6, 2017

Maybe the Jazz can put together a substantial sign-and-trade offer. There was a lot of buzz Wednesday night about talks centering around Crowder. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the two teams discussed Crowder possibilities, the Salt Lake Tribune published a similar story, and the Deseret News' Jody Genessy tweeted this:

League sources confirm the Jazz and Celtics are trying to work out a sign-and-trade to bring Jae Crowder to Utah for Gordon Hayward. — Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) July 6, 2017

It's possible, I guess. But Utah would need to give the Celtics reason to send out a valuable player on one of the NBA's best contracts. And that reason isn't just "to clear cap space" because Boston should be able to find other ways to do that.