Stevens reaffirms Celtics 'not planning' Hayward return this year

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens appreciates the enthusiasm, but he will look to play it safe when it comes to Gordon Hayward.

Hayward will ditch his walking boot by the new year, and given his current progress, he didn't rule out a potential return to the Celtics sometime this season following his horrific leg injury in the year's opener.

Stevens, however, poured some cold water on that talk.

“He’s got to find any motivation that he can find, as I’m sure he shared. We’re certainly not going to put limitations on what he tries to do. That being said, we’re not planning on him," Stevens told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.

"All that (he said) is really good, because it indicates that he feels really good about where he’s headed and he should. And that he’s going to be fully healthy when he does get back out on the court, which he should. So that’s the positive of it. But we don’t want to put that on him. And so we’re assuming that that will not be the case."

It was widely expected Hayward would sit out the season given the gruesome nature of his injury. However, the Celtics left the door open to a potential return if things went ahead of schedule. It wasn't entirely inconceivable Hayward could return if the Celtics made a deep playoff run.

History suggests Hayward wouldn't immediately regain his All-Star form. For example, when Paul George first returned after snapping his leg, he averaged just 8.8 points on 36.7 percent shooting from the field.

The Celtics have gotten by just fine without their marquee free-agent addition. Stevens has his team leading the East by 3.5 games over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and has coaxed strong performances out of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to make up for the absence of Hayward.