It’s been a tumultuous start to the season for the Boston Celtics, and especially for Gordon Hayward. He’s averaging just 10 points a night through 19 games, is shooting sub-30 percent from beyond the arc and is taking only nine shots per game, a far cry from the nearly 16 shots per night he was hoisting two seasons ago during his final year with Utah.
To be fair to Hayward, he’s still working himself back from a foot injury so gruesome it caused an entire arena to yelp in unison. Hayward is fighting not only to get himself back in shape physically, but mentally, too. The more time that passes, the more confident he’ll become.
And that’s exactly Boston is hoping for in the player they signed a four-year, $127.8-million deal ($31 million this season) to before the 2017-18 season. At his best Hayward is an All-Star caliber wing capable of defending and creating, and is theoretically a perfect fit with what Brad Stevens is trying to do. It will just take time to get him back to what he once was.
But the Celtics may not have the requisite time to wait if they want to reach their full potential this season, and point guard Kyrie Irving has already been in Hayward’s ear about his passive play.
Here's Kyrie Irving unfiltered on wanting Gordon Hayward to be more aggressive on offense: pic.twitter.com/gYpvJMrjCs
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) November 29, 2018
Irving has noticeably started to take on more of a vocal leadership role for the Celtics in recent weeks, perhaps feeling the urgency of a season in which the Celtics are nowhere near meeting their preseason potential. Irving knows how much he’ll need Hayward as the Celts move forward, and his words reflect that. We’ll see what sort of effect it has on Irving’s running mate as the season goes on, because this is certainly not the Hayward the Celtics were expecting when they made a full on press to sign him last summer.
