NBA Daily: Gordon Hayward — More Than a Role Player

How quickly people forget.

Gordon Hayward played all of five minutes last season, his first with the Boston Celtics, before his year was cut short by a gruesome leg injury. With just under a year separating Hayward from his last five-on-five competition, it would be crazy to assume he wouldn’t have some rust to shake off come October.

Still, some seem to have forgotten just how good Hayward was during his seven seasons prior with the Utah Jazz.

During the 2016-17 season, Hayward was one of just a dozen players to average at least 21 points, five rebounds and three assists. The other 11? James Harden, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Russel Westbrook, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan, Blake Griffin, DeMarcus Cousins and Paul George.

You don’t see many calling them role players. In fact, almost all of those players (sorry, Blake) were All-Stars this past season.

Not only has Hayward been criminally underrated in comparison to his peers — Hayward registered 10.4 Win Shares in 2016, that would have tied him with Kevin Durant for ninth this season — but the growth of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, expedited in Hayward’s season-long absence, has led some fans and analysts alike to see Hayward as expendable, an unnecessary piece to the Celtics’ championship puzzle.

Why take away minutes from the cheaper, younger players? While Tatum, 20, and Brown, 21, were impressive in their first and second respective season’s, they are still just that: young.

Boston came within minutes of an NBA Finals berth, Tatum and Brown played a major role in that. But, both players still have plenty of growing to do, plenty of things to learn and to just assume Hayward would be relegated to that of a “role player” in their stead is senseless. Not only can Hayward help them learn and grow as players but he should, assuming a full recovery, return to the versatile, two-way force that he was pre-injury that was brought in to help Brad Stevens and company on their quest for an NBA title.

Offensively, Hayward’s presence should make things easier for everyone, from Tatum to Brown to Kyrie Irving and Al Horford. Hayward, a proven offensive threat who shot at a high volume (15.8 FGA and 5.1 3PA per game in 2016) and did so at a good percentage (47.1 percent from the field, 39.8 percent from three), will provide more spacing for the Celtics offense — something that will be key if they hope to unseat the reigning champion Golden State Warriors.

In his last season in Utah, Hayward averaged 21.9 points per game on 1156 total shots, 490 more than the second highest total on the team (666). In Boston’s multifaceted offense, he won’t come close to that number of attempts, but he won’t need to; Irving and Horford are proven shooters and, should Tatum and Brown continue on their current trajectory, the Celtics starting five will be flush with shooting both in and outside the three-point line.

While Hayward isn’t the most gravitational player, just his presence on the floor will increase the quality of shots available for the other four starters, and vice versa, to help boost an offense that was ranked just 18th last season. Playing with as many shooters should boots Hayward’s numbers as well, despite the fact that he’ll be taking fewer shots every game.

Hayward’s offensive ability should help Irving shoulder the load in the clutch (the last five minutes in the fourth quarter or overtime with the game within five points) as well.

Hayward’s role as a secondary ballhandler could be even more important than his regular offensive duties — while his assist averages have been low, Hayward has always been a more than capable passer and will often times function as a point-forward, as he did in Utah.

Hayward has impressed as a pick and roll ballhandler in the past and, while Horford isn’t Rudy Gobert around the basket, he is a solid option on passes inside or lobs around the rim. Horford should see improved opportunities with another talented passer on the floor. Likewise, Tatum, Brown and others should see a similar benefit from Hayward’s passing ability.

Hayward’s ballhandling skills will also afford him time as the leader of the second unit, which should take considerable pressure off the likes of Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris to produce offensively.

Defensively, Hayward is another Swiss Army Knife for the Celtics to add to their collection. The switchability he provides should improve what was already the league’s best defense a season ago and provide a break for Brown, Tatum and Horford when it comes to guarding the opposition’s best player.

His defensive rating from 2016, 106 per 100 possessions, would have beat the likes of Paul George, Kevin Durant and others this past season.

Hayward may not be himself at the beginning of next season, but that is okay. The absurd notion that he will be a “role player,” however, is not. Regardless of the emergence of Tatum and Brown, it was and has always been the plan of Danny Ainge and the Celtics’ brain trust to play Hayward with Tatum and Brown, not over them. As multipositional wings, all three players can share the floor, and the depth they represent should allow for all three of them to be fresh come the postseason, another benefit.

His injury shouldn’t limit him too much, either. Other players have come back from similar, if not worse, injuries and returned to form with time.

While some have forgotten, the talented forward will remind everyone just who he is next season. Just don’t act surprised when Hayward is playing a major role in the Celtics’ run at the title.