After the Boston Celtics lost to the Orlando Magic Monday night at home, starting small forward Gordon Hayward told reporters that he has been experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired ankle every time he plays basketball.

Hayward suffered a fractured left ankle on opening night last season versus the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Gordon Hayward is going to have soreness in his ankle probably all season. It's just how the human body works. Expect the Celtics and their medical staff to monitor Hayward all year. Head coach Brad Stevens has already rested Hayward once this season.

Gordon Hayward has played in three games this season. He is averaging 11.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 42.4 percent from the floor, 45.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line. The All-Star swingman finished with 11 points against the Magic on Monday in 25 minutes of action.

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When you take a year off of basketball, and then you come back playing against the best players in the world, it’s going to take Gordon Hayward some time to get his groove back. Expect him to ease his way into the season and get back to his usual form after the All-Star break in February.

Gordon Hayward signed a four-year, $127.8 million free agent deal with the Celtics in the summer of 2017 after spending the first seven years of his career with the Utah Jazz. His first year in Boston obviously didn't go as planned, but it's a new season and Hayward and the Celtics are primed to contend for a championship. It's going to take some time for the team to gel. The club went to the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals and was a game away from reaching the NBA Finals. They did all that, though, without the services of Kyrie Irving and Hayward, so reintegrating those two back into the system will be a process.