Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward set to return to Celtics next week

Heading into the 2018-19 season, there is plenty of hype and excitement surrounding the Boston Celtics for what could be a special season.

Much of this will depend on the health of their two All-Stars in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. According to Chris Forsberg of ESPN, Irving and Hayward are both expected to be healthy and ready to go ahead of the start of training camp.

Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward will return to Boston next week and are expected to join their teammates in informal workouts as Celtics players begin pickup play in advance of the late-September start of training camp.

This should help the Celtics get off to a strong start with their core group expected to healthy to begin the year. Hayward had suffered a gruesome broken leg and ankle on opening night last season that forced him to miss the entire campaign. He has progressively improved with each passing month that has him poised for a huge comeback season in his first official year with the Celtics.

Meanwhile, Irving had undergone knee surgery that he needed to remove two screws from his patella that were inserted back in 2015 when he fractured it back in the NBA Finals of that year. Prior to that, he had undergone another knee operation to remove a tension wire in his left knee. With all of that behind him, Irving can move forward without any concern with that issue now that it has been addressed.

All of this sets the table for the Celtics to be at full strength for next season where they could make a strong push to contend for the NBA title.