Several respectable writers and analysts have written/discussed that they think Gordon Hayward is actually the best player on the Celtics. Obviously Kyrie will be the first option on offense, but there's a legitimate question as to whether he is a better overall player than Hayward. I can see arguments for both sides but feel that ultimately Hayward is better right now (the guy really has no holes in his game) but Kyrie on his best day is better than Hayward. Moreover, Kyrie has a higher ceiling. I'm curious what you guys think.
I think there is a lot of truth/accuracy in your post.
The one about Gordon that would concern me, is how well does he age? He's very athletic, but his game is also very finesse-based. As he ages, and he loses some of that athleticism, I'm just curious what kind of player he becomes. He's 27 right now, but I feel like we'll see that major dip in his game once he hits the backside of 30. There's very few guys that can maintain their level of play past age 30, like LeBron has managed to do. But LeBron has the benefit of being able to control game sin multiple ways, and is still a physical freak. When Hayward loses just a bit of that jumping ability, quick twitch muscle memory, muscle explosion.......it's very possible he becomes an overpaid player on a max deal. He'll always be a good player, I'm just not sure he'll be a "max-level" player past 30.
Interestingly enough, I've had the same fear of Kyrie. As skilled as he is, once he loses just a bit of his athleticism, how well will he finish around the hoop? How healthy will he stay throughout his career taking on a larger load?
I mean, you can make the age argument for about every player in the league, but certain players just have tendencies in their game, where you can see they will age better than another player. Because Chris Paul throughout his career, has been a guy who routinely gets others involved, is less dependent on scoring, and views himself as a game manager, his career arc has remained relatively steady. Kyrie, as a guy who wants to be a ball dominant, ISO scorer......I just don't know what that looks like in 4-5 years. He isn't the pure shooter Steph is, nor the the creator for other teammates. Can he be that guy at age 30? The thing I've always loved about LeBron, is by the time he's 35/36, if he's smart and he wants to do it, he just switches to PF full-time and doesn't have to match up on the wing, and becomes the most skilled PF in the NBA for 2-3 years.