Utah Jazz Roster: Keepers, Droppers and In-Betweeners

Gordon Hayward – Shoppable

Now hear me out on this one. It seems that Jazz fans are pretty divided when it comes to Gordon Hayward. Some love and praise him while others seem to dog on him constantly, throwing an unnecessary amount of blame on his shoulders. I tend to place myself somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.

Hayward is without a doubt a solid player who, despite his flaws, has done an exceptional job with the Jazz. He works hard, plays hard and was a much better leader in the 2015-16 season. However, Hayward certainly doesn’t seem to be the superstar who will take the Jazz to the promised land.

If the Jazz can land a talented free agent who could play alongside Hayward, allowing him to step into being the second or third option rather than the first, then it would certainly be ideal to keep him on the team. However, if Hayward has to be a piece that is sent to another team in order to bring in a bigger fish, then the Jazz shouldn’t be afraid to do so.

While Hayward is arguably the best player on the team, he doesn’t possess as many unique qualities as teammates such as Favors or Gobert. This lack of unique and hard to replace abilities are what make Hayward more expendable than some of his counterparts.

Also, Hayward certainly isn’t coming cheap, especially when considering that he makes nearly the same amount as All-Stars John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Klay Thompson and earns more than the likes of Draymond Green and Kyle Lowry.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that he isn’t worth the money, but it means that if the Jazz need more financial flexibility to spend on more proven talent, then they shouldn’t be afraid of considering moving Hayward.

After six years in the league, it’s not a stretch to say that we largely know what we’re going to get out of Hayward and that he may not be too far from his ceiling already.

Next: Alec Burks