NBA Rumors: Latest Trade and Free-Agent Buzz as Moratorium Periods Ends

We've reached possibly the most exciting day of the NBA offseason other than the draft. At 12:01 p.m. ET on July 6, teams can officially sign free agents to contracts.

This is when the league's moratorium period ends. We've seen a lot of contracts agreed to over the past several days, and most of them should become official once it does—though some situations could change. 

Once contracts start being officially signed, we'll have a more accurate idea of what rosters will look like across the NBA. We might also see a second wave of trade activity, as teams work to adjust their team salaries and supplement their free-agent hauls.

We're here to examine the latest free-agency and trade buzz as the official start of free agency commences.

Sign-and-Trade In Play for Hayward

The Boston Celtics appear to have landed one of the top free agents on the open market in the form of Gordon Hayward.

According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Hayward has agreed to join the team on a four-year deal:

With Hayward coming in, though, the Celtics may need to clear some salary off the books. According to Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Boston has discussed trades involving Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley.

Shelburne and Wojnarowski also report that the Celtics could ship Crowder to Utah as part of a sign-and-trade deal:

"The Jazz and Celtics discussed on Wednesday the possibility of including Crowder in a sign-and-trade agreement for Hayward, league sources said, which would be cap beneficial for Boston. Ultimately, Hayward himself will have to agree to a sign-and-trade, which could be perceived as a farewell gift to the Jazz franchise that drafted and developed him into an NBA All-Star."

Hayward and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, have agreed to help get a sign-and-trade done, according to Tony Jones and Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune.

No concrete appears to be in place, however, and neither team is talking about it.

"We would never comment on any trade speculation," Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey explained, per Jones and Falk.

Things could unfold quickly, however, once the moratorium period officially ends.

Heat to Re-Sign Waiters

Another team that was interested in adding Hayward was the Miami Heat. Barring his Boston deal completely falling apart, however, Miami has missed out on him.

There is some good news for Heat fans, though. Per Wojnarowski, Miami is set to re-sign Dion Waiters:

This might not be seen as a big win for the Heat, but Waiters really did emerge as a building block in 2016. After years of disappointment, the former fourth-overall pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers finally had a breakout season.

Last season, Waiters averaged 15.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. He also managed to hit on just under 40 percent of his shots from three-point range. He's also still developing at just 25 years old, so his best basketball could still be ahead of him.

According to ESPN.com, the Heat will lock him up for the next four years.

The Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks are also interested in Waiters, per Shelburne:

Jones May Not Return to Cleveland

Waiters was generally viewed as a bust during his time with the Cavaliers. Ironically, Cleveland's offseason so far could also be viewed as a bust. The team parted ways with general manager David Griffin just before the draft. Cleveland then failed to trade for either Jimmy Butler or Paul George—possibly because there was no real general manager pulling the strings.

To add insult to injury, the team's first choice to replace Griffin, Chauncey Billups, recently withdrew from consideration for the job.

According to Chris Haynes and Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com, the Cavaliers offered Billups a low-ball offer of just $2 million per year.

Cleveland may now see longtime LeBron James teammate James Jones leave town, too. According to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, a "source close to the Cavs" has indicated that Jones won't be back.

While Jones wasn't a major player for the Cavaliers in 2016—he averaged just 7.9 minutes per game—he is experienced and a favorite teammate of James.

It certainly sounds like James would prefer he returns.

"I told J.J., as long as I'm playing, he's going to be around," James said two years ago, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. "He's not allowed to stop playing basketball. So, I'm going to make sure I got a roster spot for him. I love him. He's the greatest teammate I've ever had."

One bit of good news is that the Cavaliers may get Richard Jefferson back for another run. Per Vardon, Jefferson made the announcement on his Road Trippin podcast that he plans to return for another year.