Butler, Kawhi, Hayward

[IDreamCeltics]

3 years after the great "who would you rather have?" debate was initiated the results are in.  Kawhi and Jimmy Butler have both changed teams multiple times and have both taken a team to the NBA finals.  Kawhi was the missing piece for a championship Toronto Raptors squad, and Jimmy Butler is currently carrying the Heat through a finals series without key pieces Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo.

A solid veteran and super-sub, Hayward has suffered one serious injury and has been waylaid by a seemingly endless series of innocuous tweaks and strains that have cost him critical time on the court.  His team has made the Eastern conference finals once without him in the picture at all, and had lesser results twice with him healthy.

With hindsight being 20/20 perhaps it is time to rekindle the great debate... who would you rather have?

[Roy H.]

I think it was PG13 vs. Hayward vs. Butler.

Kawhi is significantly better than the other three.

[gouki88]

I think it was PG13 vs. Hayward vs. Butler.

Kawhi is significantly better than the other three.

Yeah, Kawhi was never in the conversation for this argument. The season after his Finals MVP he separated himself with DPOY play alongside All-Star level offence.

I think, in hindsight, it goes:
1. Kawhi
2. Butler
3. George
4. Hayward

Funnily enough all 4 have had injury woes. Kawhi with his notorious load management, Butler in Minny and Philly had injuries, George has some seriously messed up shoulders now and broke his leg, and Hayward has pretty much had every injury under the sun, from the nastiest leg-break seen in memory to broken hands, to G3 ankle sprains.

Had they all stayed healthy who knows who would be numbers 2, 3 and 4. Either way, Kawhi is the best of the bunch by a mile

[knuckleballer]

Kawhi  (on a side note spell check changed that to Ja’Whaun the first time and then Kathy the second time  )

Back to the topic, Kawhi is clearly the player I would have liked then and now, but Hayward was the one we could get through free agency.  I don’t see a debate here.

LeBron, at 35, is still better than all of them.  He’s still better the Giannis too. 

[SparzWizard]

Kawhi was actually two years ago, 2018.

It was Paul George, Gordon Hayward, or Jimmy Butler. Clearly, Jimmy Butler is the winner of that 3 now. I think the Wolves got him for cheap- Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, and #7 pick? Celtics could have easily topped that offer I felt, but we had a shot at getting Hayward in free agency in a fight between Miami and Utah.

[jambr380]

Of the 3 (PG13, Butler, Hayward), we only had the opportunity to outright sign one of them. The other 2 (or 3 if you include Kawhi) would have had to come by trade and that would mean no Jaylen and/or Tatum. There was once a true debate, but unfortunately Hayward went down in that infamous game 1 vs the Cavs, and the rest is history.

Of course if we knew then what we know now, we would have made a different decision than a max for Hayward, but it is what it is. We could already be a couple of years into a dynasty - luckily we still have a bright future.

[bopna]

Butler and GH would have been a wash since their numbers would be eerily similar except Hayward will be getting less FGA as he is playing alongside the Js and Kemba  but lets ignore his playoff numbers this season for obvious reasons.

Kawhi is now miles away from these guys and PG13 has actually regressed and will likely have already peaked and will never be anymore better than what he was in Indiana.... Sadly I can say the same thing with GH...he ain't improving his numbers anymore along side the 3 scorers that we have but will still be an integral piece moving forward..I just wish we can catch a glimpse of  this team as completely healthy in an entire playoff run unlike the run we just had.