Boston Celtics: Power ranking team’s top 5 players right now

1. Gordon Hayward, SF

In my opinion, there was no one else to go with at No. 1. Gordon Hayward was brought in this offseason to be the final piece to the puzzle. He’s reunited with Brad Stevens, and has plans to earn that championship the two nearly secured back in 2010 at Butler.

This is like the storybook ending (or beginning) for Hayward and the Celtics. The underdog coach-star tandem coming together again to do in the NBA what they couldn’t do in college. It’s going to be interesting to see if this team can take that next step after earning the East’s No. 1 seed a season ago and then fizzling out in the conference finals.

Either way, Hayward is here for a reason. He brings another exciting weapon to this Boston offense. More importantly, he adds a true do-it-all wing who can take the pressure off of Thomas while giving opposing defenses yet another playmaker to worry about.

My only concern is if it’ll be enough. Sure, the Celtics got Hayward, but they also lost Avery Bradley, Johnson and Kelly Olynk. The players they then replaced those guys with weren’t nearly as impressive. That means there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Hayward to prove he was worth what it took to create the cap space for him.

Next: Celtics' wildly ambitious FA targets in next 3 years

In the end, I think that’ll be the case. I’m not sure if the Celtics have what it takes to knock off the Golden State Warriors, but a Eastern Conference title seems well within their reach. Regardless of the outcomes, Hayward’s reunion with Stevens was a big win. Hence, his spot atop this list.