In the summer of 2017 the Celtics landed one of the biggest free-agent prizes of the summer when they lured Gordon Hayward away from the Utah Jazz. 3 summers late and now the Celtics are stuck with an albatross of a contract that is hindering their advancement to an elite title contender.

Hayward has failed to live up to his summer of 2017 billing, or his all-star 2016-17 season. Though, this is no fault of either the Celtics or Hayward. on the opening night of the 2017-18 season, Hayward gruesomely broke his leg on national television. The injury cost him the remaining 81 games and playoffs of the 2018 season and took most of the 2019 season to recover.

But even with a full recovery, Hayward is not back to his all-star level. in 2017 he averaged a career-high 22 points a game, made his only all-star game, and helped guide the Utah Jazz to the second round of the playoffs. Hayward has always had slight injury issues. Even in his all-star season, he missed the first 9 games of the season. Last year he missed games due to a fracture. Hayward has only played a full season once; his second season that was only 66 games long.