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Boston Celtics: What a Gordon Hayward return would mean for the team

By Andrew Neururer

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images /
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Minutes into the Boston Celtics’ season, the newly acquired Gordon Hayward suffered a serious leg injury. While it’s unsure whether or not he will return, it’s still a possibility to think about.

This offseason, the Boston Celtics were making moves to better position themselves in the East. These moves included:

Last season the Boston Celtics put together a great season, finishing with the best record in the East (53-29). Sadly, their season ended sooner than many had hoped for. They were defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals by none other than the Cleveland Cavaliers. That was not good enough for the team, or the city of Boston.

To fix that issue, and better position of themselves, they went out and made those moves. The two biggest moves for the Celtics, and maybe even the entire NBA, was going out and getting both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Irving is having a phenomenal year so far, and is in the debate for Most Valuable Player thus far.

On the other side of things, you have the complete opposite story for Hayward. A lot of people have seen the video of him getting hurt, so let’s save some people the time and not re-watch that scary injury. Instead, let’s watch something else:

It’s great news to see that Hayward is able to walk without crutches and a walking boot, but, what does this mean for the Celtics? Recently, he had this to say (via Chris Forsberg of ESPN):

"“My mind is open to that,” Hayward said of a possible return during this campaign. “I’m trying to get back as fast as I can. It all depends on how I heal. I’m taking it day by day, goal by goal. We’ll see what happens.”"

It’s not certain whether or not we will see him again this season, but what we do know is that it’s certainly a possibility. Let’s look at how this would affect the Celtics if he were to return.

Starting lineup

Opening night against the Cavaliers, the Celtics ran a starting lineup that consisted of Irving, Jaylen Brown, Hayward, Tatum and Horford. The Celtics decided to throw all of its marbles in the starting lineup and play small-ball.

Tatum, Hayward and Brown are best suited to play small forward or shooting guard. Tatum is probably the best option to play power forward in a small-ball situation, even though he’s undersized. Tatum is only listed as 6’8″ and 205 pounds. If the Celtics want to continue playing a lineup of all three of those players, then they will need to find new ways to get around this.

There is no doubt that running that starting lineup consists of the most talent, but it might not work so well moving forward.  In this situtation, let’s look at the top teams’ power forwards in the East:

These teams are the leaders in the East that would be in the playoffs if the season were to end today. In a hypothetical situation in which Hayward returns, Tatum would then have to move back to power forward. The list above shows who he would then have to match up with.

Sure it might be a good thing to run all three players and compose a starting lineup with the most talent. But again, it might not be a good idea considering the size of the players he could possibly go up against.

It also might take opportunities away from some of the other players. Things seem to be running quite smoothly, as everyone knows their role and getting their shots up. Hayward is a scorer who will likely get up 15 shots or more a game. The development of both Tatum and Brown has been remarkable to watch. They’re both young players who were taken very high in the draft. So far this season they have shown us why they deserve to get all the opportunities in the world.

Could Hayward’s return screw up the chemistry, lineup issues and opportunity? Only time will tell.

Boost the bench

If we continue with the idea that they will return to the starting lineup that was originally put in place for opening night, the Celtics’ bench would be a lot stronger than it is now. Their defense is not the issue, but it’s the scoring that has been one of their weaknesses of the second unit.

According to NBA.com, the Celtics’ bench ranks 23rd in the league with 30.4 points per game. Most likely, the Celtics can return to form, or at least improve with the bench looking like Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris, Aaron Baynes, possibly Shane Larkin and Semi Ojeleye.

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Easily the biggest question mark off the bench is the small forward position. So far they have not found a good solution as to who should be their No. 1 small forward off the bench. It has been an issue so far this season, but the return of Hayward will give the team a much-needed boost.

The Celtics can either run Brown, Tatum, and Hayward in and out of the second unit while the bench plays, or give Ojeleye a few minutes. Both are viable options because you can either let the other four players on the bench take over, or run one of the three players some extra minutes and play with the second unit.

Certainly Baynes, Morris, Smart and Rozier can certainly hold the fort down for 15-20 minutes a game. With a Hayward return, the Celtics bench will get the much-needed boost that they so desperately need.

While Hayward returning makes the Celtics that much more dangerous, they must also understand it might not be the best short-term outcome. Adding him into the mix could ruin the chemistry or some of the opportunities and matchups.

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Seeing as how his return would come around playoff time, there is little room for error. It will help the bench out tremendously, but the Celtics may want to look into the possibility of welcoming a healthier and stronger player back next season instead of risking something this season.

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