Difficult For Irving And Hayward To Watch From The Sidelines, Ainge Says

Danny Ainge is excited about how good his Boston Celtics team will be next season when star duo Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving return from their respective injuries that have kept them out this season.

Hayward has not played since the opening game of the season when he fractured his tibia and dislocated his ankle after he landed awkwardly while attempting an alley-oop. He underwent surgery and was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

The small forward joined last summer after spending seven years with the Utah Jazz. He signed a four-year deal with the Celtics and will be hoping to return to full fitness by the time next season gets underway in October.

Irving, on the other hand, played a key role in helping Celtics finish as the second seeds in the East during the regular season, before a knee injury cut short his season. Initially it was supposed to be a short-term absence but a recurrence of an old injury ensured the point guard needed surgery thus ruling him out for the rest of the campaign.

The Celtics guard also joined at the start of the current campaign from the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he won the NBA title in 2015. He is expected to return to action when the new season gets underway in October.

Ainge admitted the two players were struggling having to sit on the sidelines while their teammates look to take the Celtics to the NBA Finals. The Boston franchise is currently playing the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals and is leading 2-1 after three games in the best of seven series.

The Celtics general manager believes playing in the finals is the reason the duo joined Boston and is hoping their return next season will bring similar success. The Celtics already have an impressive young team and Ainge is confident the duo’s return will give them more depth to challenge the likes of the Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, who look favorite to progress to the NBA Finals from the Western Conference.

“It’s hard on those guys,” Ainge said, talking about Hayward and Irving having to sit on the sidelines due to injury, as quoted on Clutch Points. “This is why they wanted to come to Boston, what’s going on now and they don’t get to be a part of it. ... They are excited for this young group of guys [and] Al Horford, they’re excited for all those guys. All I can do is think about how good we’ll be with them. Because those guys are good and our depth will be great. It’ll be a lot of fun.”

The Celtics will play Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night at the Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio. The game will tip off at 8.30 p.m. EDT with live TV coverage available on ESPN in the United States.