Gordon Hayward will not be Boston’s savior

Finally, some good news coming out of the Boston Celtics organization. General manager Danny Ainge landed a top free agent this summer when finalizing a 4 year/$128 million deal yesterday with Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz.

Hayward who will be entering his eighth year in the NBA has decided to change his location and head east to Boston where he will play alongside Isiah Thomas, Al Horford and the rest of the young talent on this Celtics roster.

Here he will probably have more success, possibly enjoy a little more winning and enter a team where that winning culture is eminent. However, he will not be the Celtics savior and he will not get them over the top in order to beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He is just not built to lead a team and he is not much of a game changer. Yes he was arguably the best player on the Utah Jazz and he did help them to a little success in recent years but he only led them to two playoff appearances in his eight year career, one sweep by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2012 playoffs and then last year when led the Jazz to the second round where they ultimately were swept by the NBA champions Golden State Warriors. 

Now if Danny Ainge got off his high horse and given up some of his assets like the draft picks the Celtics have accumulated over the years or some of their players like Jae Crowder, Terry Rozier or even Marcus Smart for Jimmy Butler or Paul George then this signing of Gordon Hayward would be a little more exciting. With the addition of either of those players would have allowed them to at least beat the Cavaliers and possibly have a shot at the Warriors for the NBA championship.

But that is the past so going into next season, the Boston Celtics will be a top seed in the Eastern Conference with close to fifty wins and will probably make it to the Eastern Conference finals but that is about it. They will once again meet up with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and they will lose once again. However, with the addition of Hayward, the much improved Jaylen Brown, and the rookie sensation Jayson Tatum who definitely will have an impact for this team will probably make it a competitive series between the Cavaliers and ultimately might steal a few games away from them but  will only push them to six games tops.

This free agent signing for the Boston Celtics is probably exciting for most fans because they have been waiting and waiting for weeks now for Danny Ainge to make a move but it honestly too late. The Celtics will now have to either wait another year to be great, snag a superstar at the trade deadline or just simply wait out LeBron James which honestly could be up to five more years knowing how well he takes care of his body.

Next season will be fun for the Boston Celtics and they will be a little more interesting but it will be a season of what ifs after missing out on both Jimmy Butler and Paul George.