As we all know, this season's Hornets are in the ranks of competing for the playoffs, and they currently have a record of 28 wins and 27 losses in the perennial lottery, although they are only in the ninth place in the East, they are only 2.5 wins away from the raptors who are sixth in the East, and even only 7.0 wins away from the Heat in the East.
In addition to a good record, the core of the team and the next three goals were also selected as All-Star benches, and the 20-year-old became the fourth youngest All-Star in history; the other core Bridges also played quite well, although not selected as an All-Star, but in terms of current performance, it is absolutely not a problem to win a big contract in the offseason.
However, in addition to being happy, there is also some bad news, just recently, the Wasp officially announced that Hayward suffered a ligament sprain and will be absent indefinitely.
Hayward's injury came in the last game against the Raptors, when, just six minutes into the opening, Hayward suffered a left leg sprain in a defensive attack and had to return to the locker room for treatment after the injury.
On the good side, Hayward's X-ray of his left ankle was negative, indicating that it was not a devastating injury, but we still can't help but sigh, how can it be Hayward again?
If you remember, in the 2017-18 season, Hayward, who had just transferred from the Jazz to the Celtics, suffered a serious injury in the opener, and he only played five minutes in that game before the season was reimbursed.
In the four years prior to the injury (2013-17), Hayward missed a total of 22 games, but in the four years since this injury (2017-21), Hayward has missed a total of 122 games, a total of 100 more, during which Hayward's injuries include:
——In October 2017, he fractured his ankle and was reimbursed for the season
——In October 2018, he fractured his ankle and was reimbursed for the season
——In February 2019, he sprained his ankle
——In November 2019, a fractured left hand
——In February 2020, he injured his foot
—— In April 2020, he injured his lower leg
—— In August 2020, he injured his ankle
——In December 2020, a degenerational fracture of the right thumb finger
—— April 2021, ankle sprain, season reimbursement
We're reluctant to call any player the Glass Man, but Hayward has been plagued by injuries since that injury in 2017, especially his ankle, which has resulted in three season reimbursements in four years.
Back this season, before the injury, Hayward played in a total of 48 games for the Hornets, averaging 16.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game, shooting 46.0%/39.0%/84.6% of the three and shooting 57.1% of the true shooting rate.
For comparison, Hayward's stats last season were averaging 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game, 47.3%/41.5%/84.3% of the three-field shooting rate and 58.4% of the true shooting rate.
Thanks to the growth of three goals and Bridges, Hayward's ball possession and stats have dropped a lot this season, his possession has decreased from 23.5% to 20.2%, the average number of touches per game has decreased from 64.6 to 55.3, and the possession time has decreased from 3.0 minutes to 2.6 minutes.
Despite this, Hayward is in very good shape, he is still one of the core of the Hornets, and the most trustworthy veteran at key moments, and his importance can be directly explained in terms of record - Hayward has missed a total of 7 games this season, the Hornets record is 2-5, this game only played for 6 minutes, the Hornets eventually lost at home to the Raptors, suffered a five-game losing streak.
So if the Hornets want to hit the playoffs, Hayward is crucial, and we believe he can play in the face again — after the past few injuries, hayward is thought to be out of the ordinary, especially in the summer of 2020, when the Hornets gave Hayward a big contract for 4 years and $120 million, everyone thought Jordan was crazy, but in the 2020-21 season, Hayward handed over a quasi-all-star performance.
Of course, even so, Hayward's contract has some premiums, with his annual salary this season being $29.92 million and two years left at $61.5 million. Honestly, with the growth of Three-Goal and Bridges, it will be a bit difficult for Hayward to play a matching performance in the future, but at least hopefully he can help the Hornets return to the playoffs, and as a veteran of the team to help Three-Goal and Bridges grow, now, recuperate and make an early comeback.