Morning sports update: Celtics reportedly exploring sign-and-trade to create cap space for Gordon Hayward
The Red Sox head into their final series before the All-Star break, while the Celtics take on the Jazz in their third Summer League game.
Sources: Celtics shopping Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley to make room for Gordon Hayward: The Boston Celtics have been aggressively trying to create enough salary-cap room to give Gordon Hayward the four-year, $128 million maximum contract he agreed upon by discussing trades involving Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley, sources told ESPN. (ESPN)
Source confirms ESPN report that Celtics and Jazz are talking about a Hayward sign-and-trade involving Crowder.
— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) July 6, 2017
Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum: Kobe Bryant used to be ‘my favorite player’: “Yeah, that’s my favorite player,” said the 19-year-old Tatum before catching himself. “He was — then I went to the Celtics.” (ESPN)
Cashner cools Red Sox; Rangers avoid sweep with 8-2 victory: “We hit some balls hard, we hit some balls right at people,” Boston manager John Farrell said. “But make no mistake, Cashner, that was one of the better games he’s thrown this year. He’s in the mid-90s (mph) with heavy sink.” (Boston.com, via AP)
Proof Boston isn’t such a bad place to play: The narrative usually always crops up when free agents are making the decision about whether or not to enter into this market: dealing with the Boston media experience isn’t worth the trouble. (WEEI)
Mike Napoli on playing in Boston and dealing with the media (via @bradfo): pic.twitter.com/RKieyl80hD
— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) July 5, 2017
Could the Pawtucket Red Sox move to Worcester?: Pawtucket’s exclusive negotiating rights with Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate expired as of July 1, providing an opening for other cities to lure the PawSox to town. Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty is ruling nothing out: “If the PawSox move from Pawtucket, I’d be happy to entertain the possibility of them moving to Worcester.” (Boston.com)
Flying ants swarm players at Wimbledon: Hundreds of flying ants swarmed various courts at the All England Club, distracting players during their matches, as the temperature warmed up considerably, from the low 70s to nearly 85 degrees. (Boston Globe)
