ATLANTA — As Thursday’s NBA trade deadline creeps closer, the league transforms into Speculation Nation.

One of the names certain to be thrown around belongs to Gordon Hayward. In fact, it already has. Hey, the Celtics may think they need to make one more splash to swim with the big fish in the deep end of the playoff pool, and Hayward can opt out of his contract after this year, so logic says the C’s would have to consider moving a guy who could walk.

But before all these hypotheses makes you want to reach for a hypothetical hypodermic needle, know that Gordon Hayward won’t be among those consuming the alleged Gordon Hayward “news.”

Unlike some of his peers, he doesn’t find this time of the NBA year uncomfortable in the slightest.

“As a player, I’ve never really bought into any of it,” Hayward told the Herald. “Like, I don’t read anything, I don’t know anything. It’s not weird for me.”

Surely, however, his offseason plan could factor into what the Celtics might or might not be willing to consider. It’s therefore important to know how Hayward will deal with his decision. He has $34,187,085 on his deal for next season, but can sever the contract and become an unrestricted free agent again.

So what’s up, Gord?

“I haven’t thought about it at all,” he said. “I haven’t thought about it at all.”

At all?

“Nope,” Hayward said. “I’ve never done that. When I was a restricted free agent, I didn’t think about it. Then when I was a free agent (unrestricted in 2017), I honestly didn’t think about it until after the season. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it this time, too.”

There is much for him to consider, including the family with the daughters than run to greet daddy in the Garden hallway after home games. His next deal is about more than basketball; it’s about security, too.

“It’s something for sure I’ll have to think about, but I’m not thinking about it at all right now,” Hayward said.

What is on his mind is the next game, in this case Monday night here against the Hawks.

As for his larger hoop dream, he was direct and to the point.

“I want to win a championship here,” Hayward said. “I mean, that’s what my goal is. That’s what my focus is. You know, after the season, you sit down and discuss things.

“But right now I’m trying to play my best basketball to help us win a title. That’s my focus.”

The surrounding circumstances could no doubt change by June 29 when Hayward has to make his decision on 2020-21, but the most likely scenario is the one the Celtics envisioned would be the case with Al Horford last summer: Hayward opts out and signs a long-term contract that gets him his worth overall but has team friendly numbers in certain years to facilitate the larger health of the roster.

There are a number of Celts who could be mentioned in trade discussions this week, but Danny Ainge may have to go through Marcus Smart to get to Hayward.

“We definitely don’t want Danny to do anything crazy,” said Smart. “Gordon’s a big part of this team. But Danny’s smart. He’s not going to jeopardize anything.”

In other words, Marcus is hoping for calm between here and Thursday.

“I am,” he said. “I definitely am. I’m definitely hoping it’s a quiet week. I love the team that we have. I love the makeup. I love the guys, and I love what everybody brings.

“For me, the chemistry is good. I don’t think we need to change anything. But, like I say, we leave it to Danny.”

Smart acknowledged that Saturday’s thorough win over Philadelphia, like the one over the Lakers, has strengthened his confidence that the Celts as presently constituted have enough to compete for a championship. The 76ers had beaten the C’s in their first three meetings, but the Bostonians were able to handle them without Kemba Walker.

“This shows us a lot,” Smart said. “We’ve just got to get everybody healthy. Once we get everybody healthy, the sky’s the limit for us. When everybody’s healthy and we’ve got that aggression, it’s a different story when we play.”

Getting back to the Philly game, Smart said, “It was huge. It was huge for us. Just from a standpoint of pride and the way that we’ve been playing, we needed a game like this to really shine and get back on track.”