Just listened to Bill Simmons recent podcast with Kevin O'Connor. Bill said that he has talked to guys in the organization and asked them why Hayward keeps getting minutes. They all have responded the same way, "He is killing it in practice." He went on to say that Hayward is the best player on the court in half of the practices.
In that sense, I applaud CBS for continuing to give him playing time. CBS is taking a lot of criticism, with some even suggesting a form of adopted nepotism, but CBS's has remained committed to making the team they best they can be.
Makes sense that All Star Hayward would appear in practice before real games. Shows that it's a comfort zone issue.
I said this months ago, that his issues are mental, which include being unsure of how he fits in, not wanting to step on anyone's toes, not wanting to be "the guy" that wrecks the chemistry of last year's team. The first few months he looked like he didn't know how to mesh with his teammates. Add to this the fact that he was genuinely shooting terrible, he didn't have much lift so didn't feel confident driving, and then his hesitancy/fear to put himself in positions where he might suffer a re-break (anyone who has had a fracture of anything will understand what this feels like). Then finally his teammates weren't passing the ball to him much (whether by design or not).
We've said this many times, each time Gordon has a decent game, we think he's turning the corner. I don't think he's quite there yet. This run of good play has coincided with lots of minutes and a higher usage rate due to Kyrie and then Rozier being out. There's still going to be single digit games where he looks like he struggles to involve himself, particularly when everyone is back and healthy and minutes drop. But this is the best run he's put together yet though, and as the season comes to a close he will have more and more of these good runs and less of the single digit games.
For those reasons I would keep things as is for now. Changing starting lineups and things always have the risk of disrupting team chemistry particularly with a team this loaded. We had 2 dismal losses but we've won 12 of 15 even if 10 of those teams were sub-500. Let's see how far they can take it with this setup. Besides, we haven't really had problems starting games, not since the early part of the season - it's the 2nd and 3rd quarters that have been our issue. If anything Brad can mix up who starts in the 3rd if that continues to be a problem.