Negative aspects of the Hayward/Irving signings linger for Celtics

The Boston Celtics signing of Al Horford as a free agent in 2016 was a positive more for The Green. He came to the young team as a quiet mentor through which much of the offense and defense was directed.

The acquisition of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward the following season, however, proved to be a near-disaster. Injuries and friction followed, and soon all three All-Stars were off to pastures allegedly greener than those in Beantown.

Well, how did all that work out? The Celtics are struggling with a .500 record - Horford is sitting out the rest of the season with the Thunder - and Hayward is out once again for an extended period of time with an injury.

Kyrie Irving? Doing just fine, thank you - currently leading his Brooklyn Nets to the top ranking in the East with a 36-16 record. The turmoil that surrounded the petulant point guard in Boston appears to be non-existent in Brooklyn (per USA Today's Mike D. Sykes II)

Wic Grousbeck: "...And that change (Kyrie irving's departure from Boston) touched off a lot of stuff and we weren’t able to maybe recruit free agents in the same way and, you know, there’s a bit of a domino effect. But it is what it is."

"We had hoped Kyrie would stay forever and lead us all the way...that change touched off a lot of stuff"

Wyc Grousbeck on Kyrie Irving's decision to leave Boston pic.twitter.com/aiSfb8CCZd
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 24, 2021

Those "dominoes" are still falling. I still recall the incident where Irving publicly chided Hayward for inbounding the ball to Jayson Tatum, resulting in a missed shot at the buzzer. That one incident told fans a lot. There was discord among the troops.

The trio of Kyrie, Al and Gordon paired with the Jay Team were supposed to seriously contend for a Title. Al seemed content to to mesh with his teammates, while both Kyrie and Gordon truly wanted to separate from the pack as potential leaders. None of that worked, and the Celtics are still looking for that one player to step forward and lead them to Banner #18. Boston may need a few more seasons in which to recover from the Hayward/Irving signings.

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