The Boston Celtics must not look to trade an important piece in Gord on Hayward regardless of how much money his contract is worth.
There’s always going to be plenty of talk surrounding Gordon Hayward and the Boston Celtics trading him away. Since Hayward’s shocking leg injury back at the beginning of the 2017-18 season, he’s found it difficult to hit that All-Star level that he was at before the Celtics paid him three years ago. But, that isn’t on him. He’s hardly been able to catch a break since that disastrous night in Cleveland, and that’s led to so many people hating on him and the money he gets paid.
Hayward has a player option for the upcoming season, which will see him pocket $34.2 million if he opts in, as he’s expected to do so. He would then become an unrestricted free agent for the 2021-22 season. There’ll be some sort of market for Hayward if the Celtics do look to shop him around, but this isn’t something that they should consider doing.
The Boston Celtics are looking alright in terms of contracts at the moment. Jaylen Brown’s deal is tied up for the next few years and Jayson Tatum will get paid eventually. But, for the upcoming season, Gordon Hayward’s big salary shouldn’t be too much of a problem. There are moves the Celtics need to make in order to be able to take the next step, but moving Hayward wouldn’t be needed for this to happen right now. And, in terms of the actual team, it would be a very negative move.
Hayward is such an underrated player in the league at this moment in time. Some people will wonder how you can underrate a player who doesn’t have mindblowing and is getting paid over $30 million per season. To really weigh up Gordon Hayward’s value to this Boston Celtics team as it is now, you have to take the contract details out of the picture and focus on his on-court presence – which is an invaluable aspect to this Celtics team that is so close to the top.
The Boston Celtics have other priorities besides trading Gordon Hayward
The Celtics will likely look for a back-up point guard, bench shooting, and potentially a big man in the offseason – but, with Robert Williams III performing so well in the bubble, this might not be a necessary move. Any moves the Celtics make aren’t going to be big ones, financially. They don’t need to make any space for the upcoming season, and with Hayward a free agent this time next year, they can likely get him for a reduced price if they are to re-sign him.
Hayward is not going to be a 25.0 point per game guy for this Celtics team. What he will provide is a bit of everything on both ends, extremely valuable playmaking and the ability to guard different positions. Last season, Hayward averaged 17.5 points per game – when you’ve got Tatum, Brown, and Kemba Walker who all average over 20.0 that’s impressive.
His efficiency is what makes him such a valuable shooting option for this team, but that’s just the start of it. This is a young Celtics team, and Hayward’s experience and skillset suits the Celtics perfectly – this has become very evident over the extended periods that he has played so far over his career in Boston.
Gordon Hayward’s game has another level to it, and we’ve seen glimpses of this. If the Boston Celtics want to win this season, then keeping Hayward, rather than shopping him, would be an obvious decision to make.