Despite the progress Gordon Hayward has made in rehabbing his fractured left ankle, Celtics coach Brad Stevens reiterated to reporters tonight that he doesn’t expect Hayward to play again this season, tweets Chris Forsberg of ESPN.
Hayward has discarded his walking boot, and a recent report suggested he could start traveling with the team on a regular basis in March. However, he still has a long way to go in recovering from the devastating injury he suffered on opening night.
“He makes a lot of shots standing still,” Stevens said. “I mean, a lot. Like, he’s a heck of a standstill shooter now. And he’s really good in a chair, too. But nothing new. We don’t anticipate him being back this season.”
There’s more Atlantic Division news to pass along:
- The Celtics held a team meeting in Los Angeles this week in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Forsberg writes in a full story. The streak was the first difficult stretch of the season for a team that remains at the top of the Eastern Conference, and players said called the meeting positive and productive. “When you’re hitting a lull of losing games, you can tend to go your own direction and try to figure it out on your own,” Kyrie Irving said. “For us, we have great leadership at the top with Brad, and he echoes a message to us leaders on the team, and then we go out there and try to maximize that opportunity of getting better every single day. And I think that we did a great job of just putting everything out on the table. And it’s just about being professional and going out there and executing.”
- A move to the starting lineup has brought out the best in Sixers swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. With J.J. Redick and Jerryd Bayless injured, Luwawu-Cabarrot made his fourth straight start Friday and is posting the best numbers of his career. “When you get more minutes, you have more time to prove yourself,” he said, “play our game and have fun on the basketball court. That was the biggest difference.”
- Dwane Casey sometimes gets overlooked in discussions about the NBA’s best coaches, but he has a strong reputation around the league, notes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Casey has the Raptors in second place in the East and is one win away from being named head coach of the team captained by LeBron James in the All-Star Game. “They’ve been building this for a long time, since he won a championship in Dallas and he became the head coach here,” Kevin Durant said recently. “He changed the culture and they play extremely hard. He’s a great coach. I’m glad he’s still here. I’m glad he’s still pushing. They’re one of the best teams in the league.”
Can we not hear about Hayward anymore since Brad keeps saying he is not coming back? My god especially after seeing the Celtics lose to the Warriors just now they sorely lack a secone option so I don’t want to hear about Hayward please. Danny Ainge needs to move that top 5 pick and Tatum for Davis. Tatum will no doubt be an all-star but Davis puts them over the top, they need that type of offense to go with Kyrie. Pull the trigger Ainge and quit resting your head on your chin.
That makes sense for Boston, but it doesn’t work salary cap wise. Plus New Orleans has been so adamant about not Trading AD, I’m not sure they do it for Tatum and the pick plus salary. On a side note, who would the salary even be? I think Horford would actually fit in nicely playing the 4 next to Cousins (next year), and him plus Tatum and the pick would give them an opportunity to compete now and in the future. Just a thought.
Ainge needs to complete the experiment in Boston, pairing Kyrie with Davis sets them up for the next 7-8 years to pile up titles.
If they can even afford that
New Orleans IS NOT trading AD. No matter how many times people mention it. It’s still not gonna happen. Boston won’t pay their price. If you’re the Pels. Would you trade AD? Unless it’s Hayward, Tatum or Brown, and multiple 1sts. The conversation ends right there.
Hayward, multiple 1sts, and Smart is something I hadn’t considered before but that probably does it. Good luck signing a max free agent under the Ainge era ever again though. Probably worth the risk to pair Kyrie and AD for a decade though.
Everyone keeps saying that New Orleans isn’t going to move Davis… until they do. There’s no guarantee that cousins will return, this was a contract year for him. Davis has learned from Antetokounmpo and Dame that these small market teams aren’t loyal to players as the players are to them.
Bring AD to C’s!!!
Bring Lou Williams to C’s!!!