Hayward is the key to winning Heat/etc, but he must come off the bench

[djFan71]

They said during game 3 that he's coming back to the bubble this weekend.

Yeah, I caught that too. But couldn't find anything official on it.

They say all kinds of silly things on the national broadcast.

They did also say there's no way Hayward is playing in the Raptors series.

Anyway, it would be weird if he enters the bubble soon only to leave again for his son's birth. Unless Robyn's already given birth. Information of which I am not privy to.

That's what I thought. Why come back and just leave again? Other than to show some support, keep involved in the game plans, etc. Seems like a lot of extra quarantining.

[Soulcatcher33]

Hayward isn't coming back so it doesn't matter. You don't come back from a grade 3 ankle sprain in four weeks.

[nic4747]

Heat up 3-0. Didn’t see this coming.

[zoyathedestroya]

Hayward might want to wait until Wednesday before re-entering the bubble.

[Celts17Pride]

Will be interesting to see this thread 2 games from now after Marcus Smart shoots 2 for 15 from three point range in Games 3 & 4.

Not hating on Smart. People just overreact to the most recent games.

My fault, Smart was 3 for 15 in Games 3 & 4. I underestimated by 1.

Smart is a super sub. Hayward should be starting as soon as he is healthy.

[AgentGreen]

Hayward is our main weapon when the opponents tries to slow down our offense. His ball handling and court vision are tough to defend and if they give him space he drains his high percent midranger or attacks the rim. We would've swept the Raptors with him. Tough luck.

[Dangit]

He's the best play maker we have , If we are being honest I'd rather have the Ball in his hands more and Kemba's less....
But I doubt we See Hayward again this year.

[87rottweiler]

Put simply, if he isn’t the one to bring the ball up the court, he’s the first pass out of the Tatum & Kemba double teams.

Having Hayward’s skills and IQ in that position turn a potentially broken play into an open shot, a hockey assist into an open shot or fake and drive, or a lane or open shot for himself.

Making the D scramble turns contested drives into into and-1s and free throws.

He’s far from perfect our Gordon but when he’s healthy and firing, he’s the engine of this team and elevates both our floor and ceiling considerably.


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[ConstableGeneva]

Kemba/Brown/Tatum/Theis with Gordo: 116.6 ORtg (92nd percentile), 104.7 DRtg (93rd percentile), +11.9 NRtg (97th percentile)
Kemba/Brown/Tatum/Theis with Smart: 105.0 ORtg (13th percentile), 100.0 DRtg (99th percentile), +5.0 NRtg (80th percentile)

That's too much of a dropoff in offense to justify the improvement in defense.

And to hugepatsfan's point, we don't use hockey 5-for-5 substitutions. Brad usually pulls out Hayward or Tatum early to bring them back before the 1Q/3Q ends so they can lead the "second unit." So not only do you maximize your starting group this way by getting them more minutes together, you also have someone to make your bench group's offense functional/more potent.

It's the same counter-argument to fans who have suggested that Kemba should come off the bench in favor of Smart.

EDIT: Smaller sample but the current starting lineup w/ Smart is scoring about the same (105.1 pts per 100 possessions) in the playoffs.

Read on Twitter

Our starting lineup with Smart is scoring only 88 pts/100 possessions against the Raptors. That is not good.

[celticfan42487]

Kemba/Brown/Tatum/Theis with Gordo: 116.6 ORtg (92nd percentile), 104.7 DRtg (93rd percentile), +11.9 NRtg (97th percentile)
Kemba/Brown/Tatum/Theis with Smart: 105.0 ORtg (13th percentile), 100.0 DRtg (99th percentile), +5.0 NRtg (80th percentile)

That's too much of a dropoff in offense to justify the improvement in defense.

And to hugepatsfan's point, we don't use hockey 5-for-5 substitutions. Brad usually pulls out Hayward or Tatum early to bring them back before the 1Q/3Q ends so they can lead the "second unit." So not only do you maximize your starting group this way by getting them more minutes together, you also have someone to make your bench group's offense functional/more potent.

It's the same counter-argument to fans who have suggested that Kemba should come off the bench in favor of Smart.

EDIT: Smaller sample but the current starting lineup w/ Smart is scoring about the same (105.1 pts per 100 possessions) in the playoffs.

Read on Twitter

Our starting lineup with Smart is scoring only 88 pts/100 possessions against the Raptors. That is not good.

Nor is it surprising. It would take a superstar Tatum to carry a Theis and Smart lineup to offensive success. That's just two players that in Theis case doesn't have enough and in Smart's case seems to try his best to turnover the basketball or make the wrong play on offense as often as he makes the right play.

Hayward being a steady hand, steady passer, and steady 3 point shooter would do wonders for us right now.

[Parliament10]

After seeing us fall 2 games to the Raptors, when we should have gone Undefeated.
I'm all for Hayward Starting, once he gets back on the team.

He's gotta be better than Smart.
And moving Smart to the Bench, strengthens our whole team.

[ParticleMan]

smart is fine with the starters. i like the defensive tone he sets. he's going to play starter minutes anyways, so put him out there when you've got your big 3 scorers. then hayward can sub in for brown or tatum and we'll have much less of an offensive dropoff than semi or grant.

[ConstableGeneva]

Read on Twitter

How do you even decide at what point is he gonna be an asset rather than a liability on the floor? 70% healthy? 80%? 86.3% healthy? If they try to ease him in, they could bring him off the bench.

[BigTrade92]

You have to have him come off the bench.

We’re barely getting any offensive production off the bench save for a rare Semi 3 or a Timelord putback.

Hayward anchoring the second unit makes the most sense. Allows him to come back slowly and keeps Smart with the starters, where his presence has been incredible.

[yazfan]

So is Hayward still leaving for baby G ?

His wife posted something along the lines "Next time I see you you will have your boy?"

That reads past tense.......

That would certainly be an interesting twist.

[BigTrade92]

So is Hayward still leaving for baby G ?

His wife posted something along the lines "Next time I see you you will have your boy?"

That reads past tense.......

That would certainly be an interesting twist.

Where was this posted?

[BillTheGOAT]

In case you missed this in the GT..

Read on Twitter

[Slax]

Read on Twitter

How do you even decide at what point is he gonna be an asset rather than a liability on the floor? 70% healthy? 80%? 86.3% healthy? If they try to ease him in, they could bring him off the bench.

Assuming there isn't a risk of re-injury, how healthy does he need to be for playing him to be a better option than playing Semi, Grant, and Wanamaker a combined 38 minutes a game? Because that was what we were resorting to in the Raptors series. I don't think he has to be that healthy to be a much better option than Semi in limited minutes.

[SuperDeluxe]

Before the playoffs I would've probably laughed at this notion of not starting Hayward. Hayward was so critical for the team in terms of the way the ball moved, so much that you could feel the offense slowing down when he was off the court.

But something changed in the way the team has been playing in these playoffs—everybody's moving the ball, which is circulating freely, the passing comes so naturally and is so crisp. I think Tatum and Brown sharing the ball, especially Jayson's passing, have made Hayward a great option coming off the bench. (Not long ago, a Tatum assist was almost a rarity. The kid is maturing right in front of us.)

Also, Hayward will be rusty after a full month of not playing... Not a good idea to start him, let alone right away.

[ConstableGeneva]

Read on Twitter

How do you even decide at what point is he gonna be an asset rather than a liability on the floor? 70% healthy? 80%? 86.3% healthy? If they try to ease him in, they could bring him off the bench.

Assuming there isn't a risk of re-injury, how healthy does he need to be for playing him to be a better option than playing Semi, Grant, and Wanamaker a combined 38 minutes a game? Because that was what we were resorting to in the Raptors series. I don't think he has to be that healthy to be a much better option than Semi in limited minutes.

Skill-wise and BBIQ, I take a hobbled Hayward over anyone on the bench. I guess I'm worried about his mobility on defense more than anything.