On Aug. 28 at St. Bernard High School in Los Angeles, about two dozen scouts, players, and trainers watched as Gordon Hayward and Bradley Beal lined up to play one-on-one.
It was Hayward's first time playing one-on-one against an NBA starter since undergoing an unexpected second surgery in late May to remove a plate and screws from around the left ankle Hayward shattered five minutes into his Celtics career. The discovery that he needed another surgery had devastated Hayward. It threw his rehabilitation timetable into disarray. By Aug. 28, he was supposed to have been months into five-on-five games against NBA competition.