RealGM

Last season Hayward finished with the following stats:

In 72 games played (18 starts) 25.9min - 11.5pts - 4.2reb - 3.4ast - 0.9stl - 46.6%fg - 33.3%3pt

VS his last year in Utah

In 73 games played (73 starts) 34.5min - 21.9pts - 5.4reb - 3.5ast - 1stl - 47.1%fg - 39.8%3pt

So basically in his first year back after injury statswise he lost about 10ppg, a rebound pg, and his 3pt% dropped 6%.

Just for the sake of boredom, let’s get a prediction poll going for this season.

I like to play the optimist so I’m going full bore and saying he’s back to his best self.

There are too many guards on this team. Tatum and Brown will average 15-20ppg, Walker 24ppg. Sorry Hayward, you are now a role player.

imo he will never be back at that Utah level. Both because of his age/injury/mindset and because of the team not revolving around him. I'd be really happy if he can get around 15 ppg on good percentages, move the ball well,and play good D. His team D looked good last year but his man could beat him off the dribble every possession.

Depends on what Danny does during the season or if there are any trades. To me hopefully Brown wont be out there for a contract but it's possible. We will see, I think he should be the primary ball handler. Also I wouldn't be shocked if Brown or Hayward are traded.

I’d say somewhere between the 1st and 2nd options.

My guess is on another team.

Just because Paul George made an unexpected return to form does not mean Gordon Hayward does. I mean we should all know from past-experience we will be hearing just that and more at training camp when hope and delusions spring ever eternal. But until we see consistent production on the floor it's all just a daydream. I will also add we should be careful to not over inflate what he was in Utah. He was a fringe all-star. I certainly wouldn't mind us having one of those to go along with Kemba. But let's keep our expectations realistic.

SmartWentCrazy wrote:My guess is on another team.

This is my thinking. Let's trade him for a couple of up and coming players.
I don't think that he'll get back to Utah form. The clock is ticking on him, in any event.

ric munchn wrote:imo he will never be back at that Utah level. Both because of his age/injury/mindset and because of the team not revolving around him. I'd be really happy if he can get around 15 ppg on good percentages, move the ball well,and play good D. His team D looked good last year but his man could beat him off the dribble every possession.

This. Even if he "recovers" it's not going to be back to whatever he was in a time machine. Hopefully it is a new, effective and consistent version of the guy he is now.

I would be thrilled if he can get back to attacking the rim regularly. imo thats the piece missing that he needs to open up the rest of his game. Defensively there isn't much to think about, whatever physical leaps he made in training this summer will dictate his mobility and the level he can defend at.

Beside George guys generally are never the same after a horrific injury. He had a few good games here and there but I think what you saw last season is what Gordon Hayward is.

I hope he regains 90% of his Utah per minute form. I think he does it. So looking at raw stats it will be closer to the 2nd option.

That is a very valuable trade chip.

100proof wrote:I hope he regains 90% of his Utah per minute form. I think he does it. So looking at raw stats it will be closer to the 2nd option.

That is a very valuable trade chip.

This is my thinking. Too many other mouths to feed for Hayward to put up 22/6/4

I hate to be negative but my prediction is he won't be better than last year and is probably a toast.

OldCeltics wrote:There are too many guards on this team. Tatum and Brown will average 15-20ppg, Walker 24ppg. Sorry Hayward, you are now a role player.

While I'd agree Tatum will average more ppg (because he'll just shoot so much...Hayward could be back to 2017 but he's too unselfish and Tatum has too much to prove), there is basically no reason that Jaylen Brown should be shooting enough that he'd average more than Hayward. Gordon is clearly a much more skilled player and should physically be fine this upcoming season.

I think he'll set a career high for assists per game. It's defense where I think he will cause a lot of problems.

There are two seperate, albeit related, questions here:

How good will Hayward be?
What kind of numbers will he have?

His numbers can and likely will be limited by his teammates more than the quality of his play will be.

In a vacuum, the right thing for Brad to do would be to give Hayward a big role and hope he lives up to it. Unfortunately, something similar didn't work last season, and a lot of negativity ensued. That awkwardness notwithstanding, I'd tier the offensive players roughly like:

ABC (Always Be Creating)
Walker
Hayward

If you think it's time for you to create, you're probably right
Tatum
Kanter
Smart
Edwards

Sometimes it will obviously be your moment
Everybody else

Between 1 and 2.

Gord will exceed most expectations and put up an efficient 17/5/6.

ThirtyFour wrote:Last season Hayward finished with the following stats:

In 72 games played (18 starts) 25.9min - 11.5pts - 4.2reb - 3.4ast - 0.9stl - 46.6%fg - 33.3%3pt

VS his last year in Utah

In 73 games played (73 starts) 34.5min - 21.9pts - 5.4reb - 3.5ast - 1stl - 47.1%fg - 39.8%3pt

So basically in his first year back after injury statswise he lost about 10ppg, a rebound pg, and his 3pt% dropped 6%.

Just for the sake of boredom, let’s get a prediction poll going for this season.

2016-17, PER 22.2, TS% .595, TRB% 9.0, AST% 18.2, STL% 1.5, BLK% 0.6, TOV% 9.4, USG% 27.6
2018-19, PER 15.6, TS% .575, TRB% 9.2, AST% 18.4, STL% 1.6, BLK% 1.1, TOV% 12.8, USG% 19.0

Honestly, the only thing different between last season and his Utah season is that for the time he was on the court last year he was taking 66% of the amount of shots he took at Utah. His 3% was down also but that's all he needs to improve.

All he needs to do this offseason is improve his 3%, Brad will get him more shots and minutes. I expect him to get back to at least 90% of Utah.

I'm thinking 18/5/4 in 31mpg