Gordon Hayward on playing this season: 'The hope is still here'

Nearly one week after Brad Stevens emphatically declared that Gordon Hayward would not be returning this season, the 27-year-old swingman refused to close the door on suiting up again this season.

Hayward spoke at length at Timilty Middle School in Roxbury, MA to help open a renovated gymnasium in a Celtics community event and spoke about the progress he's making in his rehab process from a fractured ankle.

"My thoughts are that I take it day by day," Hayward told reporters. "And I said that from the very beginning, that's what I would do, not putting a timetable on it. The recovery is going well. I'm progressing well. I was in the facility this morning, will be in the facility tomorrow. And that's kinda my goal, just really focusing day by day."

When pressed about a potential return to the court this year, Hayward said he has not eliminated the possibility from his mind.

"The hope is still there. It's something where I'm really honestly not even thinking about it. I know we're getting towards the end of the year. So it's something I'm still working for but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen."

Hayward has spent the majority of his rehab recently working on an AlterG machine, which allows the user to designate how much of their body weight to use while rehabbing.

"I did 70 percent today," Hayward said. "I think once you get to 80 percent you're off of the AlterG and you kind of progress towards running, so I'm almost off of it."

BSJ Analysis: Even though Stevens and Danny Ainge tried to close the door on the Hayward return questions during the last week, it's easy to understand why the former All-Star isn't giving up hope on a potential return. Stevens and Ainge clearly want to take some pressure off of Hayward so he isn't asked endlessly about his status and to prevent the 6-foot-7 forward from pushing himself too hard, too soon toward a return.

On the flip side, the dream of a return this season is a nice carrot for Hayward to chase as he goes through a challenging rehab process. He obviously has a very long way to go since he's not running yet, so you can certainly eliminate any strong chance of him getting back in uniform during the regular season. However, if the Celtics advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in May and Hayward progresses well during that extra month of rehab time, he can sell that to himself as a potential window to return. Whether or not the Celtics would want him to throw him back into the fire in that scenario is another whole situation to consider. Still, for now, Hayward is keeping the dream alive, ensuring the waiting game lasts a little longer this year for Celtics fans.