Gordon Hayward Signing Gives Boston Celtics A Puncher’s Chance
Danny Ainge finally pulls the trigger on a franchise-altering deal after firing blanks in late-June.
Gordon Hayward is “the type of player [the Celtics] needed to get to the Finals,” according to star point guard Isaiah Thomas.
The Little Guy isn’t lying.
In a vacuum, Hayward, 27, does not move the championship needle in a league dominated by whatever team LeBron plays for and the historically great Golden State Warriors. This is not a vacuum, this is real (NBA) life.
The addition of Hayward allows Thomas even more freedom to pick his spots. It gives Head Coach Brad Stevens even more lineup flexibility to toy with minutes distribution, staggering and continuity. It makes the offense more inherently more dynamic and unpredictable. Most importantly, it slides Al Horford down to the third offensive option, a role that he is much more suited for and ready to age into.
These are all independent factors no other team would benefit from as much as Boston.
Gordon Hayward 2016–17 Stats:
21.9 points (47.1 field goal percentage, 39.8 3-point percentage), 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, one steal
Fit:
Hayward joining the Celtics — reportedly on a four-year, $128 million max deal — at least puts Boston in the championship conversation. They have a puncher’s chance.
According to an Instagram post by Thomas’s wife, The Little Guy couldn’t be happier on the Fourth of July.
The elite wing averaged 21.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game, while notching over 10 win shares (15th in the league) with a 22.2 PER.
He’s not the player people expect him to be, nor is he the crafty fundamentalist he’s assumed to be. While he can be creative, Hayward is an extremely athletic finisher, gifted slasher and accurate gunner. He’ll posterize you, you, and you. He’ll even dunk on the Greek Freak.
Thinking about the NBA simplistically, the teams that have a chance to win the title are the teams that assemble the most stars. It generally takes (at least) three All-Star caliber players to win the championship. Hayward, Thomas and Horford fit the bill, but they’re not the best trio in the league. They’re far from it.
But, the situation the three stars have been thrust into — a roster full of young talent and one of the best coaches in the game — gives them the ability to truly maximize their potential as a tandem. Hayward, Thomas and Horford can’t win a title on their own like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh did in Miami. Maybe Hayward, Thomas, Horford, Smart, Crowder, Brown, Zizic and Tatum can.* They can at least challenge Cleveland.
*No, I didn’t forget Avery Bradley. More on that later.
As Hayward (and his ghost writer) expressed in his Players Tribune essay, choosing Boston was an extremely hard decision for him and his family. It’s also a large pill to swallow for Utah Jazz fans, but their team is not decimated. If Alec Burks, Rodney Hood and Derrick Favors stay healthy, they should still compete for a playoff spot. It’s Rudy Gobert’s team now (if it already wasn’t).
Were the Heat ever really a potential destination for Hayward? One hundred percent. With Pat Riley involved, of course. However, Boston and Utah always made more sense for him, considering the Brad Stevens factor. In his essay, Hayward references two “crossroads” moments in his life: after his sophomore season at Butler when he decided to enter the NBA Draft, and the one he experienced on Tuesday. In both situations, Coach Stevens was “the person I knew I could count on the most.” That, over just about everything, appears to be the tipping point that swayed Hayward and his family away from his life in Utah.
If Boston failed to bring Hayward aboard, this offseason would have been an embarrassing failure for Danny Ainge. All the assets he’s been swinging around for naught. By signing Hayward, the Celtics get the best of both worlds: they beef up their roster with another star, while maintaining all their future draft picks and young talent. Ainge can continue his master plan to contend in the present, while also preparing for the future. Hayward simply raises Boston’s ceiling now.
He has “unfinished business” to take care of that dates back to 2010, when his and Stevens’ Butler team lost to Duke in a heartbreaking NCAA Championship game.
The only caveat is the Celtics can’t completely afford Hayward’s max deal without some salary cap finagling. According to Brian Robb of Boston.com, the Celtics will almost definitely have to trade one of their rotation players in Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Jae Crowder. My money is on Bradley.
Even after this home run of a signing, “Trader Danny” is not done. He never is. And now, with a strong core and impressive group of rising talents, the Celtics have as good a chance as anyone to play for a title.
