2017 NBA News: Miami Signs Waiters, Finalizing Deal With Johnson? Celtics To Clear Salary Cap For Hayward

The NBA’s required moratorium before free agency agreements can be made official is quickly nearing its end, which means that team heads and managers are scrambling to finalize their deals for smooth sailing when the Friday comes. The Boston Celtics are set to get budding golden boy Gordon Hayward, although they need to clear up salary cap space first, while the Miami Heat plans to retain their stars Dion Waiters and James Johnson.

As the highly volatile free agency class of 2017 continues to develop, information about the plethora of deals constantly being made and reorganized keep spewing out. With more strings constantly being pulled out as teams struggle to tie up loose ones, it can be troublesome to keep track of all the updates; fortunately, some of the biggest updates are being tracked by CBS Sports.

Celtics Exchanging Crowder To Jazz To Make Room For Hayward

Gordon Hayward recently announced his plan to leave the Utah Jazz after a successful seven years, with his new team set to be the Boston Celtics. Both parties have finalized their agreement, with Hayward getting a $128 million salary for a four-year stint with the team.

Before the deal can fully go through, however, the Celtics need to make some room on their roster in order to allow Hayward his max salary. That means having to transfer out players, and the shortlist apparently includes forward Jae Crowder as well as guards Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart.

Out of the three, Crowder will reportedly be the one to transfer out according to sources for the Salt Lake Tribune. Furthermore, he will actually go to Utah as part of a sign-and-trade exchange agreement between both teams that will allow his new team to bypass their own salary space while at the same time clearing room in Boston for Hayward.

Miami Nearing Deal To Retain Waiters, Johnson Stays On For $52 million

Whereas Utah and Boston are engaging in a player-exchange, Miami is seeking to hold onto its star players in Dion Waiters and James Johnson. The Associated Press‘ Tim Reynolds took to Twitter to report on claims that Johnson is nearing a deal with the team to keep playing with them, although no details have been confirmed yet.

AP is told that Miami and James Johnson are continuing to move near a deal. It's been expected, and still is expected.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) July 5, 2017

In contrast to Johnson, Waiters’ deal with the Heat seems to be finalized now according to ESPN. Waiters joined the team just last year, immediately shooting up the ranks although he turned down a $3.2 million player option, which turned out to be a smart move, considering he now sits at a $52 million deal with Miami that will have him stay on for four more years.

[Featured Image by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images]