Boston Celtics champion big man Kevin Garnett is as anxious to see hobbled Celtic wing Gordon Hayward get back into the mix of things with his former team in their series with the Miami Heat, but he’s not so sure he’s the best long-term fit next to fellow forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
The former Celtic center spoke with Celtics Wire’s Q. Shiron Albertie in a recent interview, and the topic of Hayward’s present and future fit with the team was one of several topics covered.
“I love Gordon [Hayward] to death,” explained Garnett.
“I just don’t know where it fits in the growth of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. You have a trifecta, you know? And it just looks at times like he doesn’t fit or he tries too hard.”
“It just looks like he doesn’t fit,” he added.
Did I mention that I got the honor to interview Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG), where we discussed the Celtics, how he would fit in today's game, Uncut Gems and his partnership with @CrownRoyal?https://t.co/tnFfm99Gav
— Quenton S. Albertie (@qshironalbertie) September 16, 2020
The Big Ticket believes that Hayward’s absence has made it “a simplicity for Marcus Smart to come in and play a certain way.”
“It seems like a simplicity for Kemba Walker to come in and play a certain way… Tatum,” he added. “It just seems like a more simplistic system when those four, or those three, are kind of working … I’m no coach or anything … I’m just an observer and I’m a student of energy or chemistry. And I’m just watching how that whole dynamic looks when Gordon is off it.”
That doesn’t mean he thinks the Indiana native ought to lay back and let the healthy Celtics handle a surprisingly-difficult Heat squad without him, though.
“This is the time when you need all of your stars, you need all of your pieces. It would be a great thing to have him coming back,” KG elucidated.
Report: Boston’s Gordon Hayward aiming for a Game 3 return vs Heat https://t.co/X9P8GmSeM2
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 18, 2020
And about that Heat squad — Garnett is as surprised as the rest of us with how they have been playing.
“Listen, if you would have told me Miami was going to sweep Milwaukee before we started this,” suggested Garnett, “I think everybody on this line would have been like ‘you’re crazy.’”
With a little luck, Boston may have Hayward back in the fold for Game 3.
whether the front office shares KG’s vision for Boston’s young wings is an issue that will have to wait until the offseason, when the Butler product makes his decision about the player option on the final year of his deal.
