Boston Celtics: Should Gordon Hayward be a trade candidate?
Cons of a Gordon Hayward trade
Hayward hasn’t lived up to the $127.83 million contract he signed as a free agent in 2017, but he still brings tremendous value to the Celtics. He averaged 17.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 33.5 minutes per game. In 52 games this season, the Butler product posted .500/.383/.855 shooting splits.
Similar to Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris, fans want to see players getting paid north of $30 per year to post more impressive scoring numbers. But unlike Harris, Hayward is the fourth option on offense and complements the star players on his team very well.
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Despite missing so many games during his Boston tenure, Hayward has developed great chemistry with his teammates and fits well with this group of guys. The offense was much more fluid and efficient with Hayward on the court than when he isn’t in the game.
The ball moves around a lot more when Hayward is in the game, as evidenced by the drop is assist percentage from 57.9 to 53.3 when he’s not on the court. The Celtics’ effective field goal percentage also drops from 54.8 to 51.3 when Hayward isn’t in the game.
According to basketball reference, in 1,741 minutes with Hayward on the court, the Celtics posted an offensive rating of 115.4 compared to 112.2 in 1,748 minutes without Hayward.
Although he had the second-lowest usage rate (21.1) of all of Boston’s starters, Hayward has assisted 18.7 percent of his teammates’ baskets, and his 4.1 assists per game during the regular season ranked third overall on the team.
As my colleague Daniel Lubofsky pointed out on CelticsBlog, Hayward was one of 13 players to average at least 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists during the regular season. Of those players, he ranks fifth in field percentage (50.0 percent) and plus/minus (+6.4).
Based on his contract size, Hayward’s production in Boston has been underwhelming. Regardless, not many teams will be looking to take on a such a gargantuan contract this offseason. Making it all the more difficult for Danny Ainge to replace that type of production.