When the Boston Celtics traded for Kyrie Irving in August of 2017, the starting lineup in the playoffs was already decided in the minds of most fans — Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford. This lineup was considered a favorite to win the east and contend with the Golden State Warriors.
Those dreams were quickly diminished when Gordon Hayward went down for the 2017-18 season with the traumatic leg injury on opening night. Since then, the Celtics have been doing everything they can to get the team back to where they originally wanted to be.