Boston Celtics: 3 Reasons why a healthy Gordon Hayward may hinder the development of Jayson Tatum

Kemba Walker Connection

Back in the summer of 2014, Gordon Hayward had signed a four-year, $63 million contract offer-sheet from the Charlotte Hornets. The idea was to have budding stars Kemba Walker and Hayward team up and wreak havoc across the Eastern Conference.

While the pair never wound up in Charlotte together, (the Utah Jazz ended up matching Hayward’s contract offer) five years later they finally found their way towards one another, as Walker inked a four-year, $141 million deal with the Boston Celtics.

When speaking to Kyle Draper and Brian Scalabrine of NBC Sports Boston, Kemba talked about the current state of the Celtics roster, specifically focusing on Hayward and how he should have a bounce back season in 2019.

"“I know Gordon probably didn’t have his best season last year, but I think this year, now’s the opportunity to get back to it and be comfortable on his legs. I’m excited for him. I’m excited to play with him actually. We were supposed to get Gordon actually in Charlotte, so I thought I was going to play with him back then. It’s crazy how things go full circle.”"

Upon Walker officially signing with the franchise, Hayward too publicly displayed his pleasure of finally being able to call the point guard his teammate.

With the duo finally landing on the same roster, both players may be eager to see how well they mesh together. In fact, Walker may have an ulterior motive to show Charlotte what could have been had they provided the point guard with a better supporting cast.

Because of this, though Walker does already have relationships with many of the other players on Boston’s roster, the connection he has with Hayward goes back quite a few years. The point guard appears confident that Hayward will end up having a resurgence year this upcoming season and, from reading about his character through interviews from former teammates, should be inclined to help him get there.

With this, don’t be surprised to see Walker’s favorite target being #20 in year one of their partnership.  In turn? Potentially less touches for Tatum.