Boston Celtics: Gordon Hayward must find his groove before it’s too late

The Boston Celtics haven’t gotten the Gordon Hayward they acquired two summers ago because of the season-ending injury he suffered. Will he at least become close to the player he once was?

After a gruesome dislocated ankle and tibia fracture occurred just five minutes into Gordon Hayward‘s first season as a member of the Boston Celtics, he hasn’t been able to return to even a fraction of what he once was with the Utah Jazz.

It is hard to believe that a former all-star player who is getting paid $31 million or more a year until 2021 will be content with playing under 26 minutes a game and averaging a career-low in major statistical categories.

So far this season Hayward is averaging an underwhelming 10.7 points, 3.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds per game.

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He is shooting 43 percent from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range. Hayward is also attempting 8.7 shots per game, surprisingly below his previous average of 15.8 attempts per game in his last season with Utah.

Brad Stevens chose to start Hayward in the beginning of the season for 17 games until he was benched and has been playing 25.8 minutes a game.

Although Hayward has shown flashes of his scoring ability, he has only managed to score 20 points or more in only four games this season.

Mental and Physical Struggles

Gordon Hayward has publicly mentioned his struggles with his mental and physical states this season.

It is completely normal to struggle after a season-ending injury, as Paul George has chimed in this season and offered his own piece of advice stating:

"“Just honestly, don’t be so hard on yourself,” George said Sunday, per MassLive.com. “I was fortunate. Again, when I got hurt, the following season I got to play six games and that kind of helped me into the transition. The fact of the matter is, everybody’s expecting Gordon to be Gordon from Utah. But he’s not. He’s gotta take strides, take steps along the way. Fans can’t be too hard on him. He can’t be too hard on himself. The game is different. You get hurt and sit out a year and try to come back, the game is totally different (than) the way you left it. He’s got to adapt, find his game, find his rhythm, block out the noise that people are expecting him to be himself right away. It takes time.”"

Of course George has been fortunate enough to come back even better two seasons after his gruesome injury and now is in the running for league MVP and DPOY.

Hayward can definitely use advice from a fellow all-star who has shared a similar experience as fuel for next season.

Additionally, Hayward’s agent Mark Bartelstein told Yahoo Sports that he believes he will return to his all-star form by next season.

This response is exactly how agents are supposed to praise the players they represent.

Hopefully, with this recent vote of confidence, Hayward will be able to turn his season around and help the Celtics push for the NBA Finals.

Conclusion

Based on how much of a roller-coaster season the Celtics have had with their talented roster, they have big decisions to make this offseason especially if Kyrie Irving decides to leave.

Besides Irving’s looming decision this summer, the Celtics must fix their chemistry issues.

Other bench players, particularly Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier, have reportedly shown discontent with the amount of minutes Hayward is getting despite his lack of production.

If Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge aren’t buying into Hayward long-term (aside from his already existing contract that expires in 2021), he should show management and his team that he deserves to be paid over 31 million dollars a year.

In fact, there is one scenario we can think of: Ainge and the Celtics certainly don’t want a repeat of what occurred with Isaiah Thomas two seasons ago.

In short, Gordon Hayward should look at how Paul George handled the aftermath of his injury and try to regain his confidence to give the Celtics the edge in the playoffs this year.