Thoughts on Hayward so far? (UPDATE From Hayward)

[smokeablount]

Hoping for the best. Maybe he will be the wing version of Horford? Tatum and Brown are clearly the talent on the team (along with obviously Kyrie) so I am hoping Hayward will defer to them like Horford has.

I have confidence that he will improve...he has to...but I am not sure where his place is on this team if he expects to be one of the two primary scoring options. He could certainly be amazing off the bench, but he is clearly the 5th best starter so far.

I think there's legitimacy to the idea that if we move Hayward (or even Tatum) to the bench, we instantly give the bench the potential to, at peak, be legitimately starting caliber, and also allow for a rebounding defensive big who sets great screens (Baynes, RW3) on both units.

Kyrie
Brown
Tatum
Horford
Baynes

-Proven, they are defensively great but offensively might only be slightly above average.

Terry
Smart
Hayward
Morris
RW3 / Theis

-I prefer RW3- then they'd be defensively strong with Smart + RW3.  Plus, GH / Mook / Terry would be the best 1-2-3 scoring punch off the bench in the league, by far.

The offensive punch of the bench should offset the non-elite offense of the starters, who could anchor the league's best defense yet again, but with a much better bench than last year. 

[slamtheking]

so far he looks rusty as hell and his shot is definitely off.  his passing and playmaking look pretty decent though

hoping he finds his rhythm and shot before Christmas.   

at this point, I'm not sure moving him to the bench for a while would help the bench considering the state of his shooting.

[CF033]

Nobody has looked great yet...I think Stevens is force feeding minutes to GH, to get him in shape.

He'll get more comfortable, the chemistry might take a few weeks though.

I agree with this... He's looked about as good as everyone else on the Celts so far, but it's the preseason and this team will need some time to gel and shake all the rust off of everyone.

No one has shot well for the Celts thus far.

TBH the most impressive showing I've seen so far is from Robert Williams.

But give it a little time, this team will be a juggernaut. I have no doubt that Gordon Hayward will be his old self within the span of a few months.

[mmmmm]

Like others have posted, to me he looks fine.  His shot is clearly rusty.  Shooting in-game is way different than shooting in drills so that's just going to take some minutes to get comfortable with again.   He's also clearly still getting used to playing with his teammates (this is true of EVERYONE) again.

But he's moving very well and I don't really think he'll have any real serious lingering effects once his shot starts falling again.

'Not worried about Gordon Hayward.

[JBcat]

Nobody has looked great yet...I think Stevens is force feeding minutes to GH, to get him in shape.

He'll get more comfortable, the chemistry might take a few weeks though.

I agree with this... He's looked about as good as everyone else on the Celts so far, but it's the preseason and this team will need some time to gel and shake all the rust off of everyone.

No one has shot well for the Celts thus far.

TBH the most impressive showing I've seen so far is from Robert Williams.

But give it a little time, this team will be a juggernaut. I have no doubt that Gordon Hayward will be his old self within the span of a few months.

The most impressive part of the preseason for me so far is the few minute stretch in game 2 where Tatum had like 10 points.  Rozier had an overall very strong game 2.  In the 2 games Irving played he almost looked in mid season form.  Brown has looked very solid throughout preseason. Williams has looked promising but it’s in very short spurts. Yabu almost looks worthy of a role on this team.  Morris looks like his on off again self.

[hpantazo]

I expected him to look bad in preseason, and he has. What I didn’t expect was that the rest of the team would look just as bad though.

[AshyLarry]

He looks nervous and rusty, while running at 3qtr speed and has taken a step back, reflex- wise.

He reminds me of many a player throughout the years coming off a bad injury- which makes sense, but isn't exactly reassuring.

Unfortunately he's best suited for the bench on this team right now, solely from what I've seen in 3 preseason games.

Give him a year, I guess lol.

[libermaniac]

Yes, he looks super rusty.  I would expect him to get 18-20 mpg to start the season ... not sure if he starts (probably yes for ego purposes), but he won't finish games.  My guess is he ramps that up and by January he'll be back to full strength.

[Rosco917]

He looks like his confidence is not there yet.   You can tell he is not 100% as he looks frustrated when his body does not obey him like in the past.   But he is coming off a big injury and this is to be expected.

He looked bad last preseason, too, I thought.   Maybe he is slow starter?

With all the videos of him shooting, I expected him to be more locked in, but I was wrong.

I agree last year during preseason he looked uncomfortable too. I remember making a comment. Don't forget in Utah he was the man, he was their go-to guy. I hope he can fit in on a team that he's part of a system.

As to how he looks? He looks unsure, frustrated and it looks like he's being extra cautious like he's going through the motions.

Playing time will hopefully benefit him.

[hwangjini_1]

mods, can you please lock this thread and then unlock it again in six months, when he finally has enough playing time for people here to form a credible opinion on his play?

[jambr380]

mods, can you please lock this thread and then unlock it again in six months, when he finally has enough playing time for people here to form a credible opinion on his play?

We absolutely haven't had a large enough sample size to really judge him. He looks to still have good playmaking and defensive instincts and I imagine his shot will come sooner or later. I think we all would like to see him a bit more explosive and hopefully that will come with time.

But it's fair to have concerns. We paid him $30M last year to not play and are paying him over $31M this year to very possibly be our 6-7th best player. I know it is off-limits to criticize somebody who had a horrific injury, but paying ~30% of your cap to a player who is either injured or a shell of their former self is typically a recipe for disaster. Luckily, Danny has done a magnificent job drafting, trading, and with his FA signings. Otherwise, we could be mired in mediocrity (and with a very good excuse) instead of being the EC favorites.

I have no doubt Hayward will be a productive player for this team, but finding his place in the pecking order is most likely going to be the most difficult part. Jayson and Jaylen shouldn't be worried about, "stepping on others' toes."

[Celtics4ever]

mods, can you please lock this thread and then unlock it again in six months, when he finally has enough playing time for people here to form a credible opinion on his play?

A bunch of people have posted in this thread besides you, my advice if you don't like a thread DON'T LOOK IT, but don't ruin it for others who are having a conversation.

[More Banners]

mods, can you please lock this thread and then unlock it again in six months, when he finally has enough playing time for people here to form a credible opinion on his play?

We absolutely haven't had a large enough sample size to really judge him. He looks to still have good playmaking and defensive instincts and I imagine his shot will come sooner or later. I think we all would like to see him a bit more explosive and hopefully that will come with time.

But it's fair to have concerns. We paid him $30M last year to not play and are paying him over $31M this year to very possibly be our 6-7th best player. I know it is off-limits to criticize somebody who had a horrific injury, but paying ~30% of your cap to a player who is either injured or a shell of their former self is typically a recipe for disaster. Luckily, Danny has done a magnificent job drafting, trading, and with his FA signings. Otherwise, we could be mired in mediocrity (and with a very good excuse) instead of being the EC favorites.

I have no doubt Hayward will be a productive player for this team, but finding his place in the pecking order is most likely going to be the most difficult part. Jayson and Jaylen shouldn't be worried about, "stepping on others' toes."

Oh yeah. If we were counting on Hayward to be our #1 guy from the jump and carry the team after signing the big deal, we're a low seed at best, and a likely 1st round out, for possibly as much as 2 seasons, or half the length of the deal.

Fortunately, we have other pieces, including acquired all stars Al and Kyrie, and drafted young sensations Tatum, Brown, and Rozier, all 3 of whom are clearly draft 'hits' who appeared to shoulder a load at the right time.

But if it all comes together, it's like Walton in '86.

[ozgod]

I can imagine after suffering an injury like he did it would take time to get over not just the physical side but also the mental side of things. I'm not expecting him to recapture his Utah form anytime soon. Thankfully with the team's depth we do have some luxury of time with respect to integrating him back in.

[Celtics4ever]

I think we all want him to do well, it will come, the mind heals slower than the body.