If Utah Jazz Win Series, Gordon Hayward Will Have Hard Time Justifying Departure

All season long the talk surrounding the Utah Jazz has been the need to win to convince Gordon Hayward to stay put. A series victory over the Los Angeles Clippers would go a long way to solidifying that cause.

There’s no questioning that the Utah Jazz have had an absolutely tremendous 2016-17 season. After falling short and missing the playoffs by a single spot last season, Utah has rebounded in a big way as they finished the regular season in fifth place in the West and currently are one game away from advancing to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

However, the one underlying concern that has existed all season long has been the thought of what free agent Gordon Hayward will opt to do at season’s end. As our very own Drew Mackay highlighted today, Hayward has made the leap from a good player to a great player and that as a result has elevated the Jazz to unprecedented heights as well.

But as he continues to show just what a valuable talent he is with exceptional performances time and time again in the playoffs, there’s no doubt that several teams around the league are keeping tabs on him as he’s proving his value in a big way. And that’s both good and bad for the Jazz.

Mostly it’s good, as Utah is obviously benefiting significantly from his stellar play and would have planned to offer him a max contract this summer anyway. However, as more teams take notice of his play, more tempting offseason offers could arrive in front of Hayward as an impending unrestricted free agent.

Nevertheless, Hayward made it clear from the onset of this season that above all he wants to be where he can win. The Jazz have certainly done everything in their power to put Hayward in that spot this season. The team finished the regular season 51-31 and powered their way into the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Take away the injuries that Utah had to wrestle with all year long and there’s no telling just how much better they could have been beyond that.

And in all honesty, unless Hayward were to join a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs, he’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to win than the situation he’s in now. Barring a major and illogical overhaul by one of those three teams, Hayward doesn’t make much sense position-wise and especially financially to join any of those squads.

But with the Jazz, not only has Hayward found an excellent fit, both from a basketball standpoint and in terms of being beloved by his fans, but he’s playing with a squad that is already phenomenal, is making noise in the playoffs and, best of all, has yet to even scratch the surface of their potential.

And while other realistic Hayward landing spots around the league might be able to offer the glitz and glamour of a large market, I have a hard time believing that Gordon will truly be able to claim that they put him in a better spot to win. Especially if the Jazz complete the upset in their first round playoff series tonight, then if winning is truly what’s most important to Hayward, he’s going to have a hard time justifying a departure from Utah to play with any other team.

Jazz brass is ensuring that the team is headed in the right direction and with more available cap space than any other team going into the offseason, Utah still has room to improve. Of course some of that financial flexibility will ideally be used to re-sign the likes of Hayward, George Hill and Joe Ingles, but rest assured that mastermind Dennis Lindsey will continue to work his magic to do what it takes to get this Jazz team where it needs to be.

And aside from the aforementioned three most elite teams in the league, there’s really nothing that the rest of the teams below them can offer Hayward from a basketball stand point that is better than what the Jazz have going.

Three teams that have commonly surfaced in connection with Gordon are the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers. Of course in Boston there’s the Brad Stevens connection which would allow Hayward to reunite with his former Butler coach as well as the opportunity to play alongside dark horse MVP candidate Isaiah Thomas.

Miami has a few promising pieces and a solid coach in Erik Spoelstra, but in no way do I see the addition of Hayward alone taking the Heat from a lottery team to a true contender. Meanwhile, a move to Indiana would allow Hayward a chance to play in his home state alongside All-Star Paul George who has even mentioned that he would like to play alongside Hayward himself.

But particularly if Utah proves their mettle by toppling the Clippers and perhaps if they’re able to give the Warriors any sort of run for their money, their promise and potential is going to look incredible. Factor in how much Hayward has come to mean to these fans, how incredible the season-long support and especially the playoff support has been and I have a feeling he’s going to have a hard time saying goodbye.

Especially when looking at how those other teams have fared this season, it’s hard to argue that Utah isn’t just as appealing if not more. Miami didn’t even make the playoffs. The Indiana Pacers were as inconsistent as they come all season long and suffered a first-round sweep. Not to mention, with Larry Bird stepping down as team president and Paul George seeming to want to push his way out more than ever, the franchise is definitely experiencing some turbulent times.

Then there’s the Celtics who have largely been considered Hayward’s most likely landing spot. Sure, Boston ended up with the top seed in the East and they now look poised to overcome the 2-0 hole they fell into against the Chicago Bulls, but they certainly have looked less than formidable in the postseason and as Charles Barkley put it, they aren’t a team that puts fear into your heart.

But you want to know who does put fear into the hearts of opposing teams? Rudy Gobert. Several players from around the league have praised Rudy all year long and he’s certainly become an enormous part of Utah’s success.

One of the most appealing parts of staying with the Jazz for Hayward has to be the opportunity to continue to play with the Stifle Tower. Rudy makes defense so much easier for wing players and as he said himself in a recent interview with 1280 The Zone, he “ think even close to what can become.”

Hayward and Gobert truly have the opportunity to become duo cornerstones of a very special and formidable team. Beyond that, the Jazz feature a rising coach in Quin Snyder who is doing an excellent job of putting together a cohesive and efficient squad and will also likely enjoy getting to integrate more talent into his roster due to the aforementioned cap space that Utah has.

In short, this franchise is definitely headed in the right direction and if they are able to seal the deal and defeat the Clippers, it will just serve as further evidence that the rebuild is ahead of schedule and that Utah is well on its way to becoming a potential contender in the West in the years to come.

Surely there will be temptations from teams across the league, but considering the great spot Hayward is in to potentially advance to the second round this season and the great heights he could reach in the near future, I don’t see how he could leave this all behind.

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Make no mistake, the Jazz still have work to do, not only this season as they look to defeat the Clippers then challenge the Warriors in the second round, but in the years to come. Even saying the Jazz are a long shot to win the title would be an absurd understatement. But the building blocks are in place. Jazz brass committed to putting a winning team around Hayward and they have most certainly delivered.

Hayward has delivered all season long as well with his stellar play and now it’s time for him to recognize Utah’s efforts by remaining with the team. Because if he leaves, the Jazz will take a huge step backwards whereas whatever team Gordon joins may not be as great as what Utah could have been.

All season long the talk has been that the Utah Jazz need to win and convince Hayward that this is where he ought to stay. They’ve done a great job of proving that all season long, but they can solidify the effort even further with a Game 6 win over the Clippers tonight.