Utah Jazz Rumors: Miami Herald reports Gordon Hayward “has interest in the Heat”

Following a report that the Miami Heat are a concern to the Utah Jazz as Gordon Hayward suitors, it now appears that Utah’s All-Star free agent may be interested in Miami as well.

Last Friday, ESPN’s Marc Stein sent Utah Jazz fans into a frenzy by reporting that the Miami Heat were worrying the Utah Jazz as a potential Gordon Hayward suitor to the same degree that the Boston Celtics were a concern. This was quite surprising given that the Celtics have long been considered the favorite outside of Hayward’s current Utah Jazz team to potentially land him.

However, more than anything, Stein’s report gave off the impression that the Heat were looking to make Hayward one of their primary free agent targets and not necessarily that those feelings were reciprocated by Utah’s All-Star. But if a recent report from the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson is to be believed, the feeling between the two parties may actually be mutual.

Jackson had the following to say about Hayward’s apparent interest in the Heat:

"An associate of Hayward said several weeks ago that he hadn’t heard Miami was particularly on Hayward’s radar and viewed Boston as the next-best option if he left Utah, which obviously wants to keep him. But a source connected with Hayward said this morning that Hayward now has interest in the Heat, as well as other teams."

Of course the term, “source connected with Hayward” is vague beyond all belief and hard to consider concrete evidence by any means. Nevertheless, while it was one thing to know that Miami was interested in Hayward, it’s another thing entirely to discover that Hayward himself might be intrigued by the thought of playing in South Beach.

If Hayward indeed has serious interest, that’s just more leverage that Miami Heat president Pat Riley might be able to take advantage of in his attempts to woo the Jazz All-Star. Riley has long been reputed as one of the craftier executives in the league and as Jackson alluded to in his report, “Riley can be very convincing…and if  gets a player in a room, anything can happen.”

If the aforementioned source is correct and Hayward does have “interest” in the Heat, hopefully it’s more like the curiosity, “I’d like to learn more”, kind of interest and not the “Man, I could really see myself playing for them” type of interest. Either way, regardless of how founded the recent rumors and reports have been, one thing has become clear, the Miami Heat are definitely securely in the mix in the Gordon Hayward sweepstakes.

Although in Miami’s current state it would likely be a step backwards for Hayward from a basketball standpoint if he were to join their ranks, if they can add one other player alongside him, they have the personnel, role players, coach and management to be a potential threat in the East. Not to mention, Miami has long been a highly desirable free agent destination for obvious reasons.

Still, to think that the Heat can challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Golden State Warriors as early as next season even by acquiring Hayward and another star this summer is quite a stretch. True, the Jazz aren’t there yet either, but they’re certainly closer than Miami and would continue to be if Hayward opted to remain among their ranks.

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Last of all, it’s important to remember that Hayward could very well be even more “interested” in staying put in Utah than he is in going to Boston, Miami or any other team, but that doesn’t make for much of a story. Thus, it’s expected that there would be more rumors out there about Hayward going elsewhere while ignoring that he could very well remain in Utah.

Hayward will more than likely do his due diligence and meet with other teams to see what they can offer, but at the end of the day, the possibility of him returning to the Jazz should by no means be ruled out.