The Boston Celtics are just playing with fans that want Gordon Hayward to return from injury this season.

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge posted a photo on Twitter on Tuesday showing Hayward without a brace on his injured leg. The Celtics forward was hanging out at a pool with a USA swimmer, and Ainge decided it would be a good idea to post the moment to social media.

This post must have sent Celtics fans into a frenzy, speculating as to how soon their star free agent signing will make an appearance on the court. Maybe they had their eyes on a championship when they saw the photo.

But Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was quick to dispel any of that speculation, saying he has not changed his expectations one bit since he first learned that Hayward would be out for the season, per Jay King of MassLive.com.

This is genius by Stevens. He doesn't want the fans — or his players for that matter — to get their hopes up about Hayward just based on a photo. However, the photo was posted by the team's general manager. So that has to mean something, right?

Even if Hayward was someone on the road to a miracle comeback and he was able to play basketball this season, the Celtics are probably better off leaving him out for the season like originally planned, and let him get a full training camp next season so he can truly get acclimated to what Boston likes to do.