Gordon Hayward needs more minutes and shot as 2nd unit point guard


CelticsLife's Mark Allison broached the idea of Gordon Hayward at point guard for the Celtics in 2017, and I am bringing it up again. Gordon's floor time has hovered in the mid-20's most of the season, and that should increase to the high-20's or low-30's. And if he is to remain on the second unit, putting the ball in his hands to run the offense is worth a serious try.


With Hayward-as-facilitator, you won't see Kyrie Irving-like, jackhammer dribbling or Pete Maravich-type sleight-of-hand passing, but you will see a clever, skilled and unselfish distributor making great decisions with the ball. Here is Mark Allison's analysis of Gordon at the point:

At 6'8, Hayward is a traditional swing-forward based on his size and athleticism as he can legitimately play any position from 2-4 and slide in seamlessly. What's interesting about Hayward, as opposed to most forwards his size, is that he's got a good enough handle and court vision that he can also play point guard. Take a look at this clip of Hayward running the offense for the Utah Jazz, as it showcases both his dribbling skills and his ability to find an open guy across court as the defense collapses:



Hayward's per-36-minutes numbers for the season show 15.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.8 APG and 1.2 SPG on 45% from the field. His 36-minutes PPG rise to 17.9 on 56% shooting from the field for the month of March. The Terry Rozier-as-point guard experiment has not been an overwhelming success, so Hayward-as-facilitator needs a shot. Give us your thoughts in the Twitter poll and our comment section.


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Photo via Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
Video via Dakopta Schmidt



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