After what happened to Gordon Hayward last night, it's easy, and a trifle reductive, to say that: “other players are going to have to step up.” It’s also easy to say that in the NBA dozens, perhaps hundreds of players can do more than their team wants/needs them to (see: Noguiera, Lucas) — and that because of this there are untapped talents waiting for the opportunity an injury provides.
For the Boston Celtics, you can add another well-worn bromide: young players get better by playing.
And that’s the crux of how Hayward’s injury affects the Raptors fiercest division rival — it’s “good” news for now, but might have pushed us closer to the darkest timeline in the long run: one where the Celtics are a young, championship contending machine.