I Admire The Selflessness Of Gordon Hayward

(Boston Globe) – As the Celtics search for answers to jump-start their offense, start games better, and play more consistently, coach Brad Stevens said he’s considering lineup changes. And swingman Gordon Hayward said he would not be offended by coming off the bench.

Hayward is admittedly off to a slow start after he missed all but five minutes of last season with a severe leg injury. He is averaging 9.9 points on 39.6 percent shooting and 31.9 percent from the 3-point line.

The Celtics have fallen behind by at least 20 points in each of their past three games, rallying to beat Phoenix in overtime before losing to Utah and Portland in the final minutes when their furious rallies fell short.

Hayward said he is open to a role change or coming off the bench as he tries to return to form.

“For me, I’m happy to be on the court, No. 1 more than anything and, No. 2, whatever I can do to help us win,’’ Hayward said at the Auerbach Center in Brighton. “I said it before the season, it’s whatever to me.

As we know, the NBA is full of divas. Guys think they are better than they really are, players have egos and a certain sense of entitlement, and obviously once you start to get into the group of players that have max deals, they can be tough to handle. Look around the league and you’ll see guys who make a shit ton of money are a bitch to deal with, that’s just how things go in this league.

And then there’s Gordon Hayward. He took advantage of his market and secured the 6th highest salary in the NBA. Remember, it’s not what you are worth, but rather what you have the leverage to negotiate. When he signed that deal to come to Boston it was very clear he was the starting wing on this team and a main piece of that puzzle. Then his injury happened, and we all know the development of the young guys and what that meant heading into this season. In my opinion, now that Hayward is back, nothing really changes all that much. He’s still a starting wing and an important piece of this team moving forward. However, how many max players would be willing to do something like this and come off the bench? I’m going to go ahead and say zero.

I’ve talked about this before, but I’m against this idea all together and here’s why. We want this team to be rocking on all cylinders come the Spring right? Well call me crazy, but the best way to work through your issues is to play more minutes together. I want them to struggle and figure things out in November if it means they will excel come April. I think it’s important to look at the whole situation when talking about this starting lineup, the fact that it’s been 12 games and 9 of them have been on the road is important. This group is learning how to play with one another, and I feel like taking those opportunities away isn’t the solution. I get the idea of thinking let Hayward work his way back with the second unit, but I’d rather have him do that with the coverage of the other starters. I want his recovery to have as little pressure as possible, and frankly the starters need more reps together.

I’m also not really sure who you swap him with. The popular opinion would be to slide Mook into that spot, but he’s playing so well right now why even risk messing with that? Maybe you start Smart at the two spot and then slide Jaylen/Tatum up. I think if Brad were to make this move this is where I would lean because it gives you added defense and playmaking while not needing to rely on Smart as a scorer. At the same time none of this matters if Hayward was another max player diva who cared about this sort of thing, so it was refreshing to read those quotes and hear that he literally does not give a shit. He just wants to play and be back on the floor, which I respect.

I know things a tense because of how the Celtics have started, but if this is the lineup we need to rely on when things really start to matter, I’m OK with riding it out and going through those growing pains now. This team needs consistency above anything else, so while Hayward is offering this as an option if needed, let’s worry less about the lineups and more about making wide open shots and layups. They do that, and nobody is talking about swapping out the starting lineup, it’s that simple.