I think people are forgetting how good Hayward is in all aspects of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEt8p6a6uXU
I actually think the exact opposite. It seems a lot of fans have expectations that are too high, mostly because of the "max contract" label. Hayward will be the fourth best player on the team, behind Irving, Tatum, and then Brown. I fully expect Hayward to be a team contributor, make the right play, and play within the framework of the schemes. But if fans criticize Al Horford for "not being a max guy" then Hayward is going to get the criticism even worse. I see a lot of fans penciling Hayward in for 20ppg next season. They are going to be in for a big surprise. I'm fully expecting him to average about 13, 3, and 3 while playing about 26 minutes a game.
Hayward as the 4th best player? Uh, I politely disagree with your opinion. In my opinion he's the 2nd best, just a little less than Kyrie. If Brown and Tatum are better than Hayward at this time in their careers, the C's would be in the finals.
Tatum, a rookie, and Brown, a second year player, led the Celtics as far as a team can go while not reaching the finals. Gordon Hayward, in his seven seasons at Utah, played a total of 15 playoff games.
I think people are forgetting how good Hayward is in all aspects of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEt8p6a6uXU
I actually think the exact opposite. It seems a lot of fans have expectations that are too high, mostly because of the "max contract" label. Hayward will be the fourth best player on the team, behind Irving, Tatum, and then Brown. I fully expect Hayward to be a team contributor, make the right play, and play within the framework of the schemes. But if fans criticize Al Horford for "not being a max guy" then Hayward is going to get the criticism even worse. I see a lot of fans penciling Hayward in for 20ppg next season. They are going to be in for a big surprise. I'm fully expecting him to average about 13, 3, and 3 while playing about 26 minutes a game.
Are those expectations based upon any kind of reality?
Yes, they are. For his career, he only averages 15.6ppg. He is now returning from a left tibia fracture/dislocation while playing on a team that has many scoring options. Under these circumstances, why is it unrealistic to believe he will average 13ppg, only about 2 points fewer than his career average.
You are being very harsh on Hayward... While it's a serious injury, 13/3/3? Those are awful numbers. While it's advisable to set notable expectations like 14/4/5, which I think he can certainly eclipse or match easily. He hasn't posted those numbers since his 3rd year, and they weren't sure if he was a SF or SG at that point, so his numbers fluctuated. Listen, I definitely think he's going to be playing on a minutes restriction, but I think if his scoring numbers take a hit, his assists will certainly go up. Also the Jazz teams he was on before Gobert came over were really meh...
Their best players were Millsap, and Jefferson, who were both not a great match defensively. They weren't able to make up for each other's mistakes, and the Jazz team were still trying to figure out what to do with Kanter and Favors in the mix.
2015-2016 is really when Favors, Gobert, and Hayward were really stepping up as their big 3. Numbers not really that much different, but they played better than the year before. Plus Gobert was still developing, so having one of the best defensive big men to make up for defensive lapses certainly helped.
I think my prediction would be 16 PPG, 4-5 RPG, and 5-6 APG for Hayward. I think while people aren't going to be as pleased with his lower scoring numbers, Hayward will certainly put forth more effort on defense or sharing the ball. One of his most underrated aspect of his game.