For the longest time, the Celtics talked about Gordon Hayward in a way that gave us… me, especially… hope for a late-season return.
We… I, especially… took that hope and ran with it. But recently, Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens took a much less hopeful tone. Instead of couching their comments by saying things “we don’t anticipate him back” they suddenly said “he’s not coming back.”
At the time, we all wondered why. Today, Ainge revealed on Toucher & Rich that Hayward had a setback.
Ainge on Hayward minor set back (2/2): “I don’t want to get people’s hopes up. He’s not on the basketball court and we have a month left in the regular season. He’s got a ways to go. But we’re excited by his progress and determination.”
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) March 15, 2018
We knew all along that any setback would probably squash any hopes of a comeback this season. We don’t know what that was, but it doesn’t seem like too big of a deal. The only thing it affects is the timing of Hayward’s return.
Still Hayward recently sounded hopeful even after his setback… but that might just be so he has a goal in mind to keep his rehab on track. We’ll wait and see how far the Celtics get and how this all plays out. But I’ll just say that my enthusiasm for a return has diminished significantly.
By the way… Ainge did mention Marcus Smart is in New York today getting a specialist’s opinion on his injured thumb and we might have a clearer idea of his future next week.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
