What could have been with Gordon Hayward and the Celtics

“It’s about to be crazy, G.”

Kyrie Irving couldn’t have been more correct when he made that declaration to Gordon Hayward at their joint introductory press conference at TD Garden seven years ago. Even if it was the exact opposite kind of crazy than what Boston Celtics fans were expecting.

When Hayward announced his surprise retirement Thursday at the age of 34, it rocketed us back to 2017 like a Time Machine. If the overwhelming emotion you feel about the Hayward Era in Boston is to wonder what could have been, don’t let it mask the feeling of hope that existed before it all so quickly fell apart.

There was a buzz around the Celtics in the summer of 2017. Isaiah Thomas had just led the team on a magical journey to the Eastern Conference finals before his body gave out. Boston traded back from the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft but added Jayson Tatum one year after drafting Jaylen Brown. The future truly felt limitless, particularly with Boston entering the offseason with the cap space to chase another veteran star.

Enter Hayward. From the moment Brad Stevens took over as head coach of the Celtics in 2013, pundits wondered if he might rejoin forces with Hayward after that duo led Butler to the doorstep of an NCAA title at Butler University.

It felt like pie-in-the-sky speculation while Hayward blossomed into one of the league’s elite in Utah. But then he hit the free-agent market and soon the Celtics were whisking him to Fenway Park as part of a pitch that landed him on a four-year, $128 million contract.

AP Photo/Winslow Townson

The Celtics had Hayward, Thomas, and Al Horford as their core. Tatum and Jaylen Brown gave hope for a sustained future, especially after a dazzling July debut in Utah, right as the Celtics were on the Hayward pursuit with “Stayward” billboards around the city pleading with him to stay with the Jazz.

Wyc Grousbeck often talked about fireworks, and how appropriate that the Celtics landed Hayward's commitment on July 4, 2017. (Well, not without a false start that might have foreshadowed how his entire tenure in green would be defined.)

Things never quite went to plan from there. Hayward was supposed to be a focal point upon his addition. But the Celtics soon made a jaw-dropping swap by sending Thomas to Cleveland in exchange for Irving.

By the time the Celtics got around to introducing Hayward on September 1, Irving was the featured attraction. Poor Hayward, resplendent in his green blazer, sat silent for much of the conference with most of the questions targeted for Irving.

"It’s about to be crazy, G." Sigh.

"It's about to be crazy, G"

Narrator: It was pic.twitter.com/xxCnRUmLab

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 31, 2024

For a short time, it was the good crazy. The Celtics trekked to Newport, R.I., to open training camp on the campus of Salve Regina, and even the small glimpses of their new-look team showed their potential. In the team’s preseason finale in Charlotte, the Celtics trotted out a starting five of Hayward, Irving, Horford, Tatum, and Brown and absolutely shredded the Hornets in the first half.

The fairytale ended right about there.

You know the rest. Opening night in Cleveland. Hayward’s ankle shattering in the opening moments. You can still feel that pit in your stomach from watching it all unfold.

Nothing was quite the same for the Celtics -- or Hayward -- from there.

Hayward did all he could to get healthy and try to help the Celtics take their next step. Irving ended up getting hurt at the end of the 2017-18 season, too, and the evolution of Tatum and Brown only further muddied the Celtics’ long-term situation. A disastrous 2019 campaign followed and soon both Irving and Horford had departed.

Hayward ultimately played just 125 regular-season games in Boston and made just 71 starts. Hayward missed the birth of one of his daughters to stay in the bubble in 2020 despite an ankle injury that limited his availability. 

The Celtics eventually facilitated a sign-and-trade that delivered Hayward to Charlotte. It was an anticlimactic end for both sides: the Celtics watching Hayward walk for basically no return, while Hayward settled for a big payday in lieu of getting moved to a potentially more desirable location (like his hometown Pacers).

There would be no storyboook ending to the Stevens/Hayward reunion. The Celtics sputtered the following season and both Ainge and Stevens, central figures in this saga, moved on from their posts.

All ended well for Boston. Ainge’s picks, combined with Stevens’ tinkering, delivered the team to two Finals and finally Banner 18 this past June.

But it’s still jarring to think that seven years have passed since the Hayward addition. It’s wild to watch both him and Kemba Walker, another star whose body defied him in green, ride off into the sunset this summer after being instrumental in the development of Boston’s current core.

You can’t help but wonder, "What if?" What if Hayward never gets hurt? Do the Celtics compete for a title in 2018? Do things not go off the rails like they did in 2019? What would have a long-term stay in Boston have looked like for a healthy Hayward? And is he still playing today?

Just remember that feeling from July 2017. Remember how good Hayward was in Utah. Remember how good this core looked in those tiny glimpses in the 2017 preseason. 

It was about to be crazy, G. But now it’s just crazy that Gordon Hayward has retired.