Bold Prediction time how many PPG for Hayward

[KG Living Legend]

 Feeling 1000% better now. Time for more Celtics talk!

 Just asked another Crazy Celtics freind how many PPG for our Guy, AKA the anti Kyrie Gordon Hayward, he said 26.2 PPG.

 I said come on you don't believe that right, he said okay 21. Makes you think of what his mindset is though.

 Kyrie Gone, Horford gone. That was the veteran Leadership. Obviously frustrated about 2 years of injury and rehab.

 He's gotta be thinking this is my opportunity to shine. So I'm saying cautiously 18.1 PPG! Go Gordon! Your team now with some Walker and Tatums!

[jbpats]

12.7 ppg

but he'll have nice round numbers w/ 5 and 5 for assists and rebounds. I think Gordon will be a great facilitator this year.

[nickagneta]

I will say about 14-16 PPG with 5 and 5 and really efficient shooting splits ending in a TS% of about 58-60%. I think he goes to the line a lot more this year, like 5 times a game and gets off about 10-11 shots a game.

[keevsnick]

I will say about 14-16 PPG with 5 and 5 and really efficient shooting splits ending in a TS% of about 58-60%. I think he goes to the line a lot more this year, like 5 times a game and gets off about 10-11 shots a game.

Agree on the PPG, could certainly see that. I think his TS will be more like 56-58%, more in line with his career norms. I also dont see 5 assists, he's had more than 4.1 only one and he has a lot of guys like Tatum, Kemba and even Smart who are gonna handle the ball a fair amount. 5 fta's a game is possible if he's at the higher end of that ppg range, but I do worry he's just never gonna have quite the same athleticism so my guess is its a little lower like 4.

[footey]

18 ppg. 

[PhoSita]

I'm gonna say 16 points, with around 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal per game.

My bold prediction is that he will have his best TS% of his career, eclipsing 60% (he was at 57.5 last year and his career high is 59.5).


16 points sounds like a pessimistic prediction, but he was at 11.5 last year, and his career average, if you take out last year, his injury year, and his rookie year, is only 17.17 points per game.


Gordon is a team-first guy whose instincts are to keep the ball moving and find open teammates.  He's on a team with lots of scoring talent -- Kemba, Tatum, Kanter, Brown, not to mention some talented young guys on the bench. 

To score 20+ points on this team Gordon would have to dominate the ball and look for his own shot in a way that I just don't think is likely.

[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.

If Tatum comes out energized, Hayward is likely going to be the 3rd option on the Celtics. Even if he's back 100% I'm expecting him to score in the neighborhood of 16 ppg. If he does that efficiently and distributes the ball well, that'll be a terrific improvement on last year.

[Moranis]

I think he will be the 3rd option, so a normal 3rd option type player should be in the 17ppg range, so I will say 16.8 ppg.

[Who]

I am (optimistically!) thinking in the 16-18ppg range.

I don't think Hayward gets enough shots to put up 20+ppg with Kemba and Tatum taking so many shots themselves.

[Alleyoopster]

Are we saying Hayward needs to average so many points in order for the team to be successful? I hope not. If the team is firing on all cylinders, then any number is good.

But, if he's averaging 30 ppg and the team is losing. What good is that?

[dannyboy35]

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.

If Tatum comes out energized, Hayward is likely going to be the 3rd option on the Celtics. Even if he's back 100% I'm expecting him to score in the neighborhood of 16 ppg. If he does that efficiently and distributes the ball well, that'll be a terrific improvement on last year.

   The thing is though is he shouldn’t BE the 3rd option. He’s superior in basically every aspect of the game. Shooting, facilitating, ballhandling, penetration. I could care less who ends up taking the shot but If Tatum has the ball in his hands more than a healthy Gordo that’s s bad thing. ( IMO)

[johnnygreen]

I’ll say 21 ppg. The biggest difference from last season, is I think he’s mentally prepared before the season begins to be an alpha type player again. Between Hayward and Walker, they’ll be the players controlling the ball to close out quarters. Like I’ve mentioned before, I think people forgot how good Gordon was as a player.

[SHAQATTACK]

unless he shows some of that Utah shine , i predict he ll be traded moved to OKC for picks/ adams . 

he d better look like a 15 -5-5 guy or DA will have a deal going faster than you can say " Trade Deadline"

[fairweatherfan]

I'll say 16 ppg. Which is around where we need him if his efficiency's decent.

[bdm860]

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.