Celtics want Gordon Hayward *and* Paul George, but only together

Boston’s big summer plans are revealed and they’re bold.

The Boston Celtics have a plan, and it involves both Gordon Hayward and Paul George. If they can pull it off, it would be one of the coups of the decade.

According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics are currently in the process of trying to “sequence” the signing of Hayward and the trading for George this summer. Boston doesn’t want to trade for George before earning a commitment from Hayward. However, they’re worried that if they wait too long, Indiana will deal George somewhere else without them.

It’s no guarantee that Hayward is headed to Boston. In fact, Utah is actively trying to shore up the point guard position before Hayward makes his decision, per Wojnarowski, in hopes of keeping Hayward in the city that drafted him.

Meanwhile, the Celtics did almost trade for George on draft night before talks with a third team fell through. Now, they’re pretty sure that they want to wait on any George trade until Hayward makes his decision. If Hayward won’t sign, then the Celtics would consider recruiting Blake Griffin as a possible free agent signing instead, per the report.

But George is their first target, especially since Boston is confident they could re-sign him in the summer of 2018. That’s why they’re willing to offer a better package to Indiana than anyone else. It’s a calculated, but risky, maneuver on all fronts.

Why Boston should wait this out.

The Celtics aren’t just looking to add good players — they’re really trying to field a team that can compete with the Cavaliers. Adding Hayward and George to their roster without sacrificing much would give a team that already finished No. 1 overall even more firepower and defensive ability. It would also turn Boston into an extreme example of modern basketball: between George, Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and whatever other forwards the team doesn’t trade in the George deal, the Celtics would have a seemingly unlimited supply of excellent two-way wings.

George is the riskiest move on the market right now because of how much he wants to end up in Los Angeles. If you trade for him and he leaves a year later, it would be a huge blow to Boston. Not making that trade until you’re sure all the other pieces are in place makes sense.

Why Boston shouldn’t wait this out.

The counterpoint is simple: man, Boston is going to look like idiots if they don’t pull this off.

There are approximately 100 different moving parts and the Celtics have to navigate all of them. George can be a top-10 player at his best, and maybe that’s the type of guy who’s worth the risk regardless. It’s not like the Celtics missing on Hayward or Griffin would be a total disaster. They still have assets galore.

Still, having assets galore is a good place to be in, even if Boston misses out on both. George may be a top-10 player, but there’s a top-five player looming on the trade market in Anthony Davis if the Pelicans’ big man experiment goes awry.

Chances that this will happen

The George deal could happen today. The only real question is whether Indiana will wait long enough to see. The Hayward free agency is more questionable — Hayward has plenty of reasons to like Boston over Utah, but it feels like if the Jazz are able to make even one clear upgrade to their roster, he probably isn’t going anywhere. But I’m not Hayward, just guessing about his psyche, so who really knows.

Let’s say there’s a 3 out of 10 chance this happens, which feels like decent odds for Boston making a move as complicated and enormous as this. We’ll see if they pull it off.