Long Term Title Odds are Better b/c of Hayward injury (if he comes back 100%)

[Moranis]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing. 

[Phantom255x]

I definitely think with a healthy Hayward, and hopefully another draft pick (via Lakers) OR all star (via trade), the Celtics can legitimately contend for Banner 18 next year (even against the Warriors). Especially if Lebron leaves the East.

[Dino Pitino]

This is the silverest of silver linings.
Gold linings!

[celticsclay]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

What about this season if Hayward returns in April?

[Moranis]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

What about this season if Hayward returns in April?

Probably will make the team worse, because Hayward (even if 100% healthy) isn't going to play well when he comes back and him coming back could totally mess up the chemistry of the team.  that said, if Hayward is healthy he should play this year and get a lot of the post-injury growing pains out of the way this year if at all possible.

[Boris Badenov]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

What about this season if Hayward returns in April?

Probably will make the team worse, because Hayward (even if 100% healthy) isn't going to play well when he comes back and him coming back could totally mess up the chemistry of the team.  that said, if Hayward is healthy he should play this year and get a lot of the post-injury growing pains out of the way this year if at all possible.

I don't see him as having trouble integrating. At worst he's an off-the-ball spot-up shooter. He doesn't need to be explosive to play that role, and if he's the 3rd-4th option on offense it won't mess with the play-calling too much, right?

Defense would be a bigger concern but even there, Hayward is a vet and at least will be able to know where he should be (even if he can't get there).

[manl_lui]

as most posts and articles i've been reading, Hayward can / should be back at 100%. When that happens, which I assume will be next season

Kyrie
Brown
Hayward
Tatum
Horford (although older but role will  be reduced)

will be a very deadly lineup. Between Smart and Rozier (Smart as much as it sucks for me to say this since i'm a big Smart supporter, I think when he was injured the last 2 games, Rozier has been balling, and Smart seems like the odd man out)

Not just Brown and Tatum benefiting from the injury of Hayward by starting but players like Theis and Semi might be playing more time also because of it. Starting to get very exciting

[Spilling Green Dye]

If Hayward never got hurt then I'm quite confident the Celtics would be 5 and 0 right now.  That's really promising, especially since I think the team is still gelling.

[mef730]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

I think it goes further than that. Guys like Semi and Theis also get an opportunity to play, giving us the opportunity to see if they are legitimate NBA bench guys.

Mike

[nickagneta]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

I think it goes further than that. Guys like Semi and Theis also get an opportunity to play, giving us the opportunity to see if they are legitimate NBA bench guys.

Mike

Let's also not forget that if the Lakers pick conveys we will be adding one of Porter, Bagley, Doncic, Ayton or Bamba. Doncic has been putting up sick numbers in Europe. Imagine him as a sixth man.

[mqtcelticsfan]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

What about this season if Hayward returns in April?

Probably will make the team worse, because Hayward (even if 100% healthy) isn't going to play well when he comes back and him coming back could totally mess up the chemistry of the team.  that said, if Hayward is healthy he should play this year and get a lot of the post-injury growing pains out of the way this year if at all possible.

I disagree. If he's healthy enough to return, I doubt they throw him in 40 minutes a night as a focal point. More likely he would be asked to do less while he re-acclimated and would at least be a better player for us than Semi or Nader.

[moiso]

Long term as in next year, yeah our odds are better.  After that I assume Brown and Tatum would have developed anyway.

One thing I see as a negative in the injury is that Hayward had been showing a pattern of improvement every single year.  Now Hayward will be simply trying to get to the level he was at before the injury instead of the next level that he may have been able to reach if he didn't get hurt.

[celticsclay]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

What about this season if Hayward returns in April?

Probably will make the team worse, because Hayward (even if 100% healthy) isn't going to play well when he comes back and him coming back could totally mess up the chemistry of the team.  that said, if Hayward is healthy he should play this year and get a lot of the post-injury growing pains out of the way this year if at all possible.

I don't see him as having trouble integrating. At worst he's an off-the-ball spot-up shooter. He doesn't need to be explosive to play that role, and if he's the 3rd-4th option on offense it won't mess with the play-calling too much, right?

Defense would be a bigger concern but even there, Hayward is a vet and at least will be able to know where he should be (even if he can't get there).

Yea I think you can make an argument you think the impact he could make this year will be small. However, with a coach as smart as Brad Stevens and Haywards ability as a shooter us being worse with him back (especially when he is replacing a bench player) is pretty bizarrely pessimistic imo.

[celticsclay]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

What about this season if Hayward returns in April?

Probably will make the team worse, because Hayward (even if 100% healthy) isn't going to play well when he comes back and him coming back could totally mess up the chemistry of the team.  that said, if Hayward is healthy he should play this year and get a lot of the post-injury growing pains out of the way this year if at all possible.

I disagree. If he's healthy enough to return, I doubt they throw him in 40 minutes a night as a focal point. More likely he would be asked to do less while he re-acclimated and would at least be a better player for us than Semi or Nader.

Yea I agree with this take 100%

[Sketch5]

We are now 5 games in the season and 4 full games without Hayward.  It has become increasingly apparent that Brown and Tatum are benefiting greatly from Hayward not being out there.  They are getting more minutes, have a larger role, and are generally developing faster because of it.  Assuming Hayward heals completely and is basically the same player going forward, then I'd strongly argue Hayward getting hurt will significantly increase Boston's chances of being a realistic title contender and being one much faster, perhaps as early as next season.  Sucks to lose Hayward, but I don't think Boston was realistically contending this year anyway and can absolutely see the positives for Brown and Tatum without Hayward playing.

What about this season if Hayward returns in April?

Probably will make the team worse, because Hayward (even if 100% healthy) isn't going to play well when he comes back and him coming back could totally mess up the chemistry of the team.  that said, if Hayward is healthy he should play this year and get a lot of the post-injury growing pains out of the way this year if at all possible.

I disagree. If he's healthy enough to return, I doubt they throw him in 40 minutes a night as a focal point. More likely he would be asked to do less while he re-acclimated and would at least be a better player for us than Semi or Nader.

Yea I agree with this take 100%

I'd have Hayward come off the bench and bring him along slowly into the playoffs. This will help with conditioning and not over pushing to get into game shape and mentally. Playing against lesser players will help build confidence, and get him to trust his ankle again.

Unless one of the staters offers, this will keep the starting unit flowing and give the bench a very good offensive weapon that will be needed in the playoffs. Yeah you'd be paying a bench player 29 mill, rather him come off the bench and able to contribute than try to start and either get hurt again or mentally isn't ready because he tried to come back too soon and put too much pressure on himself.