The NBA’s Western Conference continued its arms race this free agency period, but the Boston Celtics finally acquired a big piece on Wednesday when Gordon Hayward decided to join the Celtics in free agency.
Boston was thrilled by the belated decision, and no one was happier than Celtics star Isaiah Thomas. He danced through his initial celebration, but later gave a very optimistic quote to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski about adding Hayward to the Celtics lineup.
Isaiah Thomas on Gordon Hayward to ESPN: "The type of player we needed to get to the Finals. I'm excited and can't wait to get to work."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2017
But getting to the Finals means getting past LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and few people think that can actually happen even with Hayward in Boston. For example, here’s the most popular response to that Woj tweet according to Twitter’s algorithm.
https://twitter.com/KofieYeboah/status/882414786482507776
That’s some good GIFing, but it’s also a pretty good point. Hayward is a good player and will make the Celtics better, but adding the former Jazz star to the lineup doesn’t make them the most dominant team in the East. Not in the playoffs, anyway.
It’s a bit of a Catch-22 here because Boston can be criticized for both doing and not doing things to improve themselves this offseason. To add Hayward they’re going to shed some pieces like Kelly Olynyk and retool their depth. But they’ve also added more assets through trading draft picks and passing on Markelle Fultz for themselves.
It’s clear they wanted one major piece and a Top 5 pick to add to their roster and challenge LeBron and the Cavs in the East. Paul George and Jimmy Butler didn’t work out, but Hayward did. Whether that’s enough, though, will be impossible to say for sure until next spring.
