I think the answer is a clear yes.
After an embarrassing 0-3 road trip losing to vastly inferior teams, they came out and beat the best team in the EC last night.
Don't get me wrong, I still am p---ed that they were very unprofessional in their play and their attitude on that road trip. So much so, that I didn't watch last night and probably won't watch for another 2-3 games.
They won last year without Irving AND Hayward. They just have to show that they can win this year without Hayward. He's a non-entity in many games. Any decent games that they get from him will be gravy. CBS has to dispel the idea that the youngsters have that Hayward is the teacher's pet. Same rules should apply to him as to them (who have lost minutes to him): you perform, you play. And the length of the leash should be the same length for all.
Besides Kyrie, Gordon’s probably had the two best games of any Celtic this season. So clearly he can still play at an all-star level. The problem is he hasn’t been able to do it consistently, like pretty much everyone else on the team (sans Kyrie).
I don’t think he needs to be singled out because he’s the “new” guy or a max player. His touches are down compared to his norm just like pretty much everyone else. He’s adapting to a new role just like several others are.
None of them can have the mentality of “play well or you’re losing time to someone else.” We all know who is better than who when they are right. The pecking order is defined for anyone other than the younger guys. If they can’t grasp that, there’s only two much CBS can do.
Nothing Brad has done with Hayward suggests he’s “teachers pet.” If anyone on the team feels that way, they need to come back to reality. The only reason most of them got minutes last season was because of his injury. So however well they did in the playoffs without him (and Kyrie), they shouldn’t remember they would’ve never tasted that success if not for that.