Gordon Hayward will undergo surgery on his fractured left hand in New York on Monday afternoon, and a timeline on his return to the Boston Celtics will come after the procedure, his agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Hayward suffered the injury in Saturday’s 135-115 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
The injury happened when he collided with Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who was trying to set a screen from behind that Hayward didn’t see coming. Aldridge was called for an offensive foul on the play, and Hayward, whose left arm got caught between his body and Aldridge’s, immediately began shaking his hand and went straight to Boston’s locker room.
Hayward is averaging 18.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in eight games this season while shooting 55.5% overall and 43.3% from 3-point range.
His play has translated into rave reviews from scouts who have seen Hayward early on this season, as he’s clearly benefited from a full offseason that was solely dedicated to working on his body and game. After missing all but six minutes of his first season with the Celtics after suffering gruesome leg and ankle injuries in the opening game of the 2017-18 season against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Hayward looked tentative at times throughout last season.
Information from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps was used in this report.