Gordon Hayward Would Be A Great Addition to Boston Celtics

The Celtics should go after Gordon Hayward

If you’re a Boston Celtics fan, and refreshing Twitter every five minutes, you’ve been on quite the emotional roller coaster lately.

First, Marc Stein’s report published on ESPN.com late last night delivered a punch in the gut. Stein cited sources that said despite Boston’s best efforts to acquire “an established veteran”, the team was struggling to create an enticing enough trade package. Potential trade targets included Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls, Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz.

However, it then seemed like all hope may not be lost. While Stein’s report last night contended that the Jazz had no interest in trading Hayward, a different narrative had emerged this morning. Brian Geltzeiler of hoopscritic.com tweeted this morning that sources now indicated the Jazz were actively shopping Hayward. He had reportedly expressed his desire to be traded, and the Jazz were planning on complying.

Then, about halfway through this post, Jody Genessey, a Utah Jazz writer for the Deseret News took to Twitter to shoot down Geltzeiler’s report, insisting that the trade rumor was untrue, citing multiple sources in the Jazz organization.

While I tend to believe Genessey and Stein, it’s not stopping me from dreaming of a potential Butler University reunion.

Hayward would fit well in Boston for more reasons than the fact that he’s played for Brad Stevens. He would be the wing scorer that the Celtics so desperately need.

At 26 years old, Hayward continues to improve with each passing year. His points per game average has increased in each of his six seasons in the NBA, and this past season he averaged just under 20 points per contest. Hayward is a versatile scorer that would give the Celtics a credible scoring threat to pair with Isaiah Thomas.

He has taken an increasing amount of three-pointers over the past couple of seasons, with three-point shooting statistics that mimic those of Avery Bradley. Last season, Bradley connected on 147 of 407 attempts (36 percent); Hayward made 143 of his 410 attempts (35 percent). This is notable because acquiring Hayward would likely mean the departure of Bradley. Hayward would give Boston’s three-point shooting a healthy boost.

Not only does he pose a threat from behind the three-point line, but he can also put it on the floor, get to the basket, and create his own offense. That is a skill that a majority of the current Celtics lack. Aside from Thomas and Evan Turner – who may not return to Boston next year – the Celtics have nobody who was capable of creating offense for themselves consistently.

A great stat to analyze when talking about creating your own offense is the percentage of your shots that are assisted. On last year’s Celtics team, looking at the nine players who logged over 1000 minutes, six of them sported a %Ast’d of 60 percent or higher on 2-point field goals; meaning for those players, an assist was recorded on more than 60 percent of their made field goals.

The three players whose %Ast’d marks were lower: Thomas (34 percent), Turner (30 percent) and Marcus Smart (39 percent). Hayward posted a (32 percent) last season. Part of that is a commentary on his supporting cast in Utah, as the Jazz were 28th in the league in assists per game last year. It is also a commentary on Hayward’s individual skill set, and his ability to create his own opportunities.

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Defensively, he’s not as polished, but he is improving. He’s posted the lowest defensive rating of his career in each of the past two seasons, and he had 95 steals last year – a per game average of 1.2. Given his knowledge of the player, Stevens would be able to put Hayward in situations where he can succeed defensively.

Hayward and Thomas would be a respectable one-two punch offensively. The question is, what would Danny Ainge need to send back to Utah? According to sources, there have been multiple teams inquiring about Hayward, which would allow Utah to shop around, if they had any interest in doing so.

A move to successfully acquire Hayward would have to include the 3rd overall pick, Bradley or Jae Crowder and at least one more player to make the salaries work. Maybe Boston includes the 23rd overall pick in this year’s draft too?

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At the end of the day, it doesn’t seem like Utah has any interest in parting ways with Hayward. However, if anything were to change, I would expect Ainge and the Celtics to jump at the opportunity, because he would significantly improve this team.