Video: Gordon Hayward explains why the stacked 2019 Celtics busted

Former Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward was the latest guest on Paul George's "Podcast P" show. Before anyone gets a coniption and asks why Hayward is bringing up old stuff, he was just answering a question honestly. The whole show is 85 minutes and covers his whole career and life.

In hindsight that squad while as individually talented as any team Danny Ainge constructed was extremely flawed. The main reason is the one Hayward provides. There was only one ball and two many players that needed the ball in their hands to be their best. With the exception of Al Horford, the rest of the stacked rotation was made up of younger players who weren't ready to sacrifice like you need to win a championship.

After taking the Celtics all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals the past season, asking guys like Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Morris to have their roles greatly reduced to accomodate the two returning (from injuries) All-Stars in Kyrie Iriving and Gordon Hayward was a tall ask. Especially since due to Hayward's injury it would take him some time to get back to the level he was at in Utah.

What should have happened was prior to the trade deadline, Danny Ainge should have remedied the two many cooks in the kitchen and traded two of Irving, Rozier, and Morris for better fits (and two let the remaining player thrive). What made the KG era Celtics work was that one of their top 2 players was the extremely unselfish Garnett. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce wouln't have worked with a third guy who needed the ball in his hands and had to score.

Replace Kyrie with an unslefish star even if he was less talented and that team would undoubtedly fair much better. Adding two alphas back to the guys who just went to the Eastern Conference Finals was too much, when you're not subtracting anyone.

By the way if you retain Horford, Rozier, Morris, and Baynes and run back that same team the next season without Kyrie (and with no Kemba), considering how well they did in the Bubble, they very likely win that 2020 title instead of the Lakers.

Celtics related stuff from the podcast:

41:16 2017 Free Agency Meetings

47:16 Dealing With A Major Leg Injury

54:27 Why It Didn’t Work In Boston?

59:42 Recognizing Tatum and Brown’s Talent Early