2 most likely players to be next All-Stars for the Boston Celtics

Gordon Hayward

Look, we get it; a majority of you man have wanted to see the likes of Marcus Smart or Romeo Langford on this slide.

To be frank, we’d love nothing more than to have had them included. But, in all likelihood, they will not be a part of the next batch of Celtics to be bestowed the honor of NBA All-Star. That label is most likely to be placed upon the likes of Gordon Hayward who, make no mistake, has had himself a fantastic season thus far for the C’s.

After his first two seasons with the franchise being injured — both physically (2017) and mentally (2018) — Hayward seems to finally be playing like the player he came here to be.

Through 36 games, the 29 year old is boasting averages of 17.2 points, 6.6 boards and 4.1 assists on 51 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from deep — all easily his best numbers since signing with the Boston Celtics.

Deem his tenure with the franchise up until now how you want: a let down, a roller coaster ride, a waste of money. With our optimistic perspective, we’d deem his first two years in green & white as somewhat of redshirt seasons.

He spent those campaigns working through the kinks — i.e. injuries, establishing himself within this star-studded roster —  and, now, has played up to what some has deemed borderline All-Star level.

Whispers would have it that the Celtics’ front office is very interested in bringing back Hayward “long-term” once his contract comes to an end. Looking at how well he is playing in this system, and with this group of guys that a majority of are expected to be around for the next several years, it’s not unreasonable to think the small forward could get even better as time goes on and chemistry improves.

Hayward was an All-Star while playing in the more competitive Western Conference. It’s not unfathomable to think that he could make his way onto the game’s roster sometime in the future in the East.

For all the reasons listed above, there should be no question that he belongs on this list.