The Hayward Conundrum
The Celtics are fresh off a decent game one victory against the Philadelphia 76ers, but are faced with a tough loss for the next few weeks.
Former All-Star Gordon Hayward came down on a teammates foot in game one, and further evaluation revealed that he suffered from a grade three sprain of his ankle. The timetable for him to return is at around four weeks, meaning he would be gone until around the Conference Finals.
This is a huge loss for the Celtics, as Hayward was playing great basketball in the bubble and put up around 17+ points for the C’s on the season. Not only will they miss his scoring, but his playmaking ability is constantly overlooked and a huge reason why Boston has been so successful this year. So without Hayward for the foreseeable future, who steps up?
The obvious choice for most Celtics fans would be rookie Romeo Langford. The 2019 lottery pick showed some serious potential on the defensive side of the ball during the seeding games, and a lot of fans are high on him. Brad Stevens even came out and said that his defense was a surprise and it’s not common for someone of Langford's age to be playing such solid defense.
My big concern with giving Langford the majority of Hayward’s minutes is his ability to shoot the ball. Hayward was shooting at a spectacular clip this season both from the field and behind the arc. Langford’s numbers are less impressive because he is still developing, but you never know what could happen.
Another option would be to insert Semi Ojeleye into the rotation some more. Ojeleye has struggled a bit to shoot the ball as of late, but this has been his most efficient season yet from behind the arc. He’s been slowly working on his shooting and giving him more room to improve in the playoffs could be beneficial. I suppose the same could be said about Langford, but with Ojeleye you have a guy who has shown an ability to defend in the playoffs time and time again.
The only downside with Ojeleye is that inconsistency shooting the ball. If he has a rough game from deep, the Celtics lose that much needed shooting that his defense just might not be able to make up for. It’s a hit or miss with Ojeleye in that regard.
My last potential Hayward replacement is Javonte Green. Green showed a lot of promise in the Celtics’ final seeding game against Washington, pouring in a career high 23 points. He actually looked pretty solid shooting the ball, too, but wasn’t actually that efficient once you checked the box score. The one great thing Green does bring to the table is superb hustle and athleticism. There’s never a question of if he’ll be bringing the intensity or not.
Once again, though, there is one major thing that worries me with Green. Have you found the trend yet? Yes, it is once again the ability to consistently make shots. Green did look good against the Wizards, but from an overall perspective has not been a great three point shooter. It’s probably the main reason he has seen limited minutes this season.
We all know that Marcus Smart will most likely see a huge uptick in minutes to account for the Hayward loss, but the real question is who will get those leftover minutes. Will it be the up and coming Langford? The strong man with something to prove in Ojeleye? Or maybe the hustle guy fighting for a roster spot in Green? We’ll have to see what Stevens has up his sleeve when the Celtics take on the Sixers in game two tonight at 6:30 PM EST.
