Much of the Boston Celtics’ upcoming season may hinge on how healthy Gordon Hayward proves to be, both mentally and physically.

While Hayward clearly grew more healthy and comfortable as last season went on following the gruesome ankle injury he suffered on Opening Night in 2017, he never appeared to reach 100 percent, and after a good performance against Indiana in the first round of the playoffs, his progress seemed to peter out in Boston’s five-game loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

According to Enes Kanter, in an appearance on NBC Sports Boston, Hayward looks great in pick-up games this summer.

Enes Kanter played against Gordon Hayward on Tuesday morning. His assessment? “[Hayward] looked amazing. Very good shape, lot of confidence … I think he should definitely start eyeing the All-Star game.”



📰: https://t.co/3h1AtNTuwkpic.twitter.com/j8XWaCdm3q — Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) September 18, 2019

That’s great news for the Celtics -- you could draw a pretty direct line between Hayward’s best performances and success in Boston’s win/loss column. When Hayward scored 15 points or more last season, the Celtics were 17-4. When Hayward played and scored five points or fewer, the Celtics were 9-11.

Of course, offseason pick up games are very different than regular-season NBA games, and we shouldn’t draw too much from a player building up a teammate like Kanter did in the clip above. But it would make sense if Hayward plays significantly better this season -- he’s another year removed from his injury, and a full year removed from being officially cleared to 5-on-5 action (as always, remember that Hayward had a second procedure which delayed his recovery significantly).

Hayward can be easy to forget -- he wasn’t a part of the offseason turnover, and he didn’t play for Team USA over the last month. But the Celtics acquired him hoping they would have a versatile playmaker who can space the floor to beyond the 3-point line, attack mismatches and defend several different positions. Getting that player back this season would go a long way toward replacing the production Boston lost this offseason.