What if Gordon Hayward stayed healthy in Boston?

Normally, entertaining a ‘What if?’ scenario is a fun exercise. You change one thing, start pulling on the thread and see how ridiculous you can make everything on the other end. Maybe Kevin Durant actually says yes to Tom Brady’s recruiting pitch. Maybe Danny Ainge finally cashes in the war chest on Anthony Davis without sacrificing either Jay.

Considering what if Gordon Hayward never got hurt is not a fun exercise.

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If you give me the power to go back to October 17, 2017, there is no debate: I’m grabbing Hayward out of midair like an overprotective parent catching a toddler jumping off the couch. I’m moving Jae Crowder six feet to his left. I’m running onto the court and blocking Kyrie’s lob pass. I’ll pull the fire alarm at Quicken Loans Arena if I have to.

Anything to keep Hayward from landing the way he did.

The problem comes after that.

Less than three weeks after the injury, Hayward spoke to reporters at the Celtics’ practice facility about what those first few weeks had been like.

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“I still have negative thoughts; it’s hard not to, especially when you watch the games,” Hayward said during that November 2017 press conference. “I think I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t have those thoughts.”

There’s no version where I’m rooting for the injury because of what it may have accidentally set in motion. But for a franchise that eventually got Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Banner 18 out of the real timeline, I’m increasingly nervous about what else I’m undoing by preventing it.

So…how good was that team supposed to be?

In short? Really, really good.

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I think time has flattened the 2017-2018 Celtics into “that team Gordon Hayward got hurt on,” which undersells how absurd the setup looked before Opening Night.

Hayward was 27 years old and coming off the best season of his career in Utah. He had averaged 21.9 points, had just made his first All-Star team and looked like the exact kind of big, versatile wing Brad Stevens could build an offense around.

On top of that, Boston had just traded Isaiah Thomas for Kyrie Irving.

All of a sudden, Stevens had Irving, Hayward and prime Al Horford, plus…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gordon-hayward-stayed-healthy-boston-111600146.html

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Publish date : 2026-08-19 11:16:00

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