Gordon Hayward to meet with Miami Heat on Saturday

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald Gordon Hayward is expected to meet with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat on Saturday.

Utah forward Gordon Hayward is expected to meet with the Heat and Boston Celtics after the start of free agency on Saturday, Yahoo! reported on Tuesday, adding that the Celtics are angling to get a commitment from Hayward before trading for Indiana’s Paul George.

If the Heat fails to land either Hayward or the Clippers’ Blake Griffin (whom Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins predicted will end up with the Heat), Miami is expected to pivot back to James Johnson and Dion Waiters.

That’s a tricky course to navigate, but it could help somewhat that Hayward and Johnson share the same agent – Chicago-based Mark Bartelstein.

As has been widely reported, because Danny Ainge won’t stop texting Woj, Boston is pushing hard to sign Hayward along with Paul George.

An interesting note from Adrian Wojnarowski’s latest report is that Indiana may grow impatient waiting for Haywards decision.

For Boston, here’s the hitch: While Indiana believes Boston can offer the best possible package, the Pacers may be unwilling to wait until the start of July free agency on Boston’s timetable and could turn toward making a deal elsewhere for George, league sources told The Vertical.

Hayward has stated he wants to sign quickly, so it may be a moot point, but I’ll be watching Indiana to see if they grow impatient and the Lakers do something silly to ensure signing George. And if Hayward meets with Riley and starts to waffle on whatever decision he is leaning towards, the process may take longer than expected.

Either way, the next few days will tell us a lot about Utah’s future.