The J-Notes
Fansided

Gordon Hayward’s Move From Good to Great

By Drew Mackay

April 18, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) during a stoppage in play against the Los Angeles Clippers in the second half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
April 18, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) during a stoppage in play against the Los Angeles Clippers in the second half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

It’s been a common theme ever since the Utah Jazz fell short of the playoffs last season. How good can a team be if Gordon Hayward is the best player? The answer now is much different than it was going into the preseason.

The search of a star player is something all NBA teams go through. You either have one and are contending for the playoffs, or you are trying to make plans to find one. The Philadelphia 76ers wasted years of their existence hoping for the right combination of ping pong balls that would give them that chance.

During the slow rebuild the Jazz have taken on, its often been speculated on how Utah plans to get the number 1 option they need to be relevant. Six months ago I posed the question of whether or not Utah needed a superstar to win.

More from The J-Notes

Around that time I had heard a podcast from Zach Lowe where he had been asked from league front offices if Hayward could be the 2nd or 3rd option on a championship team. The very next sentence I wrote was that “Very few players of All-NBA caliber are moving teams and the ones that do aren’t all that willing to move to SLC.”

Oh how times have changed. For both the Jazz and Hayward.

In the most recent Lowe Post, Zach spoke with the voice of the Jazz himself David Locke. 

"They don’t strike me as a team that will get nervous, I don’t know why that is. They clearly aren’t an experienced team as this is their first time in the playoffs since Al Jefferson was there. And the first time for most of the young players, obviously they have some old heads who are doing some dynamite stuff in this series.Part of it is that I’ve just been so impressed with Hayward in this series. He obviously didn’t play in most of game 4 when he was sick but he was a guy who there were going to be a lot of eyes on him in the playoffs, both because of ok, now he’s the guy and the last time he was here he was not the guy. How good is Gordon Hayward?Is he the first option or the second option? Lets see how he does on the big stage.And number 2 because he was going to get asked all the time if you lose this series what does that mean for your future? I mean like everything is wrapped up… And he has just, he’s averaging like 23-22 a game shooting almost 50% from 3, 50% from the field, rebounding his ass off playing great defense like, he just looks like a guy who was ready for this and is confident and ready to go to the next round. He just looks primed."

Locke then provides some interesting back ground into what made Hayward take the steps he took into getting ready for this next challenge of leading this team. As a rookie, sitting on the bench, he mentioned to Locke that he was bothered he was getting more money in game checks than his parents had ever made in a year by doing nothing. He is someone who wants to be great, and wants to earn his place in the NBA. As Locke put it, “He’s here to BE something.”

Locke continues:

Home/Jazz News