Boston Celtics: Gordon Hayward not returning this season

The constant rumors of a possible return for All-Star Gordon Hayward have been put to rest. This news isn’t as bad as it may seem, however.

It’s an unfortunate turn of events that the Boston Celtics had to lose a star player like Gordon Hayward so soon. Expectations were high once they signed him in the offseason to a four-year, $127 million deal.

Minutes into the first game with the Celtics, he was sadly injured. It was one of those freak accidents that just happen and you’re not really sure why. He landed awkwardly, and what ensued was something you never wish to see.

Hayward a warrior and has been working hard all season to get back to form. Fans are teased every once in a while of a new video of Hayward getting his boot off or even getting shots up in practice. The question surrounding the team this entire season is whether or not we will get to see him play.

He seemed to progress well enough where it seemed like a real possibility. If it wasn’t late in the regular season or so close to the playoffs, maybe we’d see him play again. Brad Stevens ended all those rumors by coming out and saying that he won’t be playing this season.

There’s no question that we all wish too see him play back as soon as he’s healthy. Even if you’re someone who hates the Celtics, you never wish too see a player go down with an injury. While it sucks that we won’t see him this year, it’s actually not bad news at all.

The only negative to this is that we won’t see him until next year and the fact that Boston could use his scoring and depth. Having Hayward sit out for the rest of the season is a good thing.

More from Boston Celtics

• Why the new and improved Celtics are a major threat
• These two Celtics will be crucial to unlocking Kristaps Porzingis’ potential
• The new-look Celtics are closer than ever to an 18th title
• 3 Reasons Boston will regret trading Marcus Smart
• Ranking the 5 best available power forwards in 2023 NBA free agency

Boston just inked him to a massive contract this last summer… do you really want to rush back one of their best players back to only see possible long-term affects down the line? With him earning a little more than $30 million a season, you’re not going to want to risk any sort of issues down the line.

Taking this process slowly will ensure that you’re going to get a healthy player back next season. Other than ensuring that you’re going to avoid any long-term issues, the other positive is that this will give him time to fully recover.

To take down the Golden State Warriors or the Houston Rockets, you’re going to need a full army. Allowing him to get stronger without any rush ensure’s that you have a lot better chance to take down the two alpha dogs for years to come in the future.

One last thing is that having him return this season could ultimately cause some chemistry issues. Hayward played less than five minutes before going down with an injury on the very first game of the season. He hasn’t had the chance to play with his new teammates yet and Boston has adapted to life without Hayward throughout the season.

Reinserting him into the lineup could cause some issues in a time where you can’t make any mistakes. Maybe if this were November or December it wouldn’t become a major issue, but we’re almost a month away from the playoffs.

Next: The 50 greatest NBA players of all time (updated, 2016-17)

It’s not fun to see a player of Hayward’s caliber go down with an injury. While the news isn’t what you want to hear, for the long-term, it’s for the best.