Bold Prediction time how many PPG for Hayward

[wdleehi]

I am thinking 16 to 17 points per game sounds about right.   I expect him not to play much more then 30 minutes a game.   I think they will use his passing ability more often. 

[wdleehi]

I am thinking 16 to 17 points per game sounds about right.   I expect him not to play much more then 30 minutes a game.   I think they will use his passing ability more often.

But I wouldn't be surprised if he is the Celtics leading scorer for the last 2 minutes of a game.

[CF033]

My guess is around 15ppg this season behind Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum. He and Jaylen Brown will probably be close to each other for the 3rd scoring spot on the team.

[hpantazo]

I'm going with 18.9 point per game. I expect this season and next season to be two of his best NBA seasons. He's back to his old self, but wiser and with something to prove, and with Stevens on his side.

[Big333223]

This is a guy who topped out at 21.9 ppg in his 7th season, in a contract year, on a team where the entire offense was built around him.

Don't forget about pace.  In '17 when Hayward averaged 21.9, Utah was dead last in pace at 91.6.  Boston last year averaged 99.6.  If Hayward put up his '17 numbers at the pace the C's played last year, he would have averaged 23.9ppg.  Not a huge difference, but thought it was worth pointing out.

Of course Hayward was also playing 34.5mpg in '17.  In the 6 years Stevens has been an NBA coach, only 1 player has ever averaged more than 34.0 mpg (Jeff Green at 34.2mpg in Steven's 1st season).  In both good times and bad, Stevens doesn't seem to play guys a lot of minutes, so whether you think the roster is thin (especially with Morris gone) so Hayward will get a lot more minutes, or you think Hayward will lose some minutes due to the logjam at SF (with Brown/Tatum), no matter what you think Hayward's probably not cracking 34mpg.

Maybe 32mpg as a 3rd option, with an above average NBA pace (league average was 100.0 last year, and with so few bigs the C's better not be slow, they were 3rd in pace before Horford came aboard and became a key distributor), maybe Hayward could do 20+ppg (if I squint really hard with my green tinted glasses on).  But I think there will be competition from Brown as a 4th option and Hayward will be looked to as a distributor, but 18ppg sounds an optimistic yet achievable stretch goal to me.

The problem I have with simply adjusting for pace, assumes that playing at a higher pace wouldn't have affected Hayward is any other way. Maybe playing at a higher pace would've made him a little sloppier or just a little more tired and resulted in more TO's or more missed shots. Maybe not but I don't think we can judge him on a hypothetical like "if he played faster, his ppg would have been higher."

Too many other variables for me.

[PhoSita]

I'm going with 18.9 point per game. I expect this season and next season to be two of his best NBA seasons. He's back to his old self, but wiser and with something to prove, and with Stevens on his side.

If he has a good year this year -- and I think we can set the bar fairly low for this, with 18-19 points qualifying -- Gordon will almost certainly opt out of his contract.

For a guy like Gordon who saw basically a year and a half of his career wiped out by an injury, I imagine that the long term security will be too good to pass up.

I highly doubt anybody will pay him $30 million a year on his next contract unless he truly shows out this season (e.g. clear-cut All-Star).  Even so, if he shows that he's more or less returned to his pre-injury form, I think he could easily get a 3-4 year deal for $20-25 million per year.  I mean, Middleton got 5 years, $178 million, and if healthy Gordon is a better player than Middleton.


My point in bringing this up is that I think it's unlikely Gordon will be in a Celtics uniform next year if he plays really well this year.  That is, unless the Celts decide it makes sense to pay him.

[gouki88]

16.5PPG

[Fierce1]

17 to 18 points per game.

[Smartacus]

I'm going with 18.9 point per game. I expect this season and next season to be two of his best NBA seasons. He's back to his old self, but wiser and with something to prove, and with Stevens on his side.

Cosign, agree 100% with this sentiment. He's going to be a 90th+ percentile Eastern Conference player.

 I'm on board the Hayward train.

[MichiganAdam]

i'm thinking GH@18,5,5.  JT @ 20-22,8 and 4, KW at 24, 3 and 8, JB at 16-18, 4 and 2, and MS at 12, 4, and 5.  Kanter at 10,12,and 2

[Ogaju]

I'm going with 18.9 point per game. I expect this season and next season to be two of his best NBA seasons. He's back to his old self, but wiser and with something to prove, and with Stevens on his side.

If he has a good year this year -- and I think we can set the bar fairly low for this, with 18-19 points qualifying -- Gordon will almost certainly opt out of his contract.

For a guy like Gordon who saw basically a year and a half of his career wiped out by an injury, I imagine that the long term security will be too good to pass up.

I highly doubt anybody will pay him $30 million a year on his next contract unless he truly shows out this season (e.g. clear-cut All-Star).  Even so, if he shows that he's more or less returned to his pre-injury form, I think he could easily get a 3-4 year deal for $20-25 million per year.  I mean, Middleton got 5 years, $178 million, and if healthy Gordon is a better player than Middleton.


My point in bringing this up is that I think it's unlikely Gordon will be in a Celtics uniform next year if he plays really well this year.  That is, unless the Celts decide it makes sense to pay him.

He already got paid.

[IDreamCeltics]

Something in the neighborhood of 11-5-5 this year sounds about right.