Gordon Hayward has yet to make his presence felt on the court for the Boston Celtics. His unfortunate injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers on opening night ended any chances of Hayward contributing during the 2017-18 season.

The future is bright, however, and Hayward is well on his way to a full recovery. According to Connor Yohn of GordanHayward20, Hayward expects to play in five-on-five drills soon.

Yohn asked Hayward exactly when he plans to dive back into full five-on-five drills.

“I’ll be ready to go for sure,” Hayward said. “Since I’ve had my second surgery, I’ve been feeling a lot better. My ankle has reacted a lot better to different drills, strength movements and different things I’ve done on it, so the next step is go live and play against other people. Instead of just doing rehearse drills, I’m doing reactive drills. It’s doing a lot better.”

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This is an excellent sign for Celtics fans. With training camp beginning in September, Hayward appears to be a shoo-in for full participation.

The rich get richer. The Celtics shocked the NBA world in the 2018 NBA playoffs by advancing to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the LeBron James-led Cavaliers. They accomplished this feat without Hayward or Kyrie Irving.

With both All-Stars returning fully healthy, the Celtics are clearly one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference. Hayward was blossoming into a star before his injury derailed his ascent. Brad Stevens and the Celtics are hoping that he picks up exactly where he left off.