Three questions facing the Utah Jazz sparked by the Paul George situation

Will the George trade affect Gordon Hayward’s decision at all?

I already touched on how Paul George going to Cleveland could potentially deter Hayward from joining ranks with the Celtics if he felt that would no longer put him in the best championship situation, but with so many hypothetical situations still involved deciding where PG is going to end up, this could be a tricky question to answer.

For one thing, there’s even still the possibility that the Boston Celtics, who were tied to Paul George at the most recent trade deadline, could make a move for him. If that happens then the Celtics and Hayward are likely in a similar situation to what I touched on yesterday regarding if Boston were to add Jimmy Butler.

Depending what team George ends up with and how it affects the landscape of the NBA, the trade could very well weigh heavily on Hayward’s mind and ultimately his decision, but one thing I hope that Hayward keeps tabs on is how devastating this decision by George has been and will be to the Pacers franchise.

Now let me set one thing straight, often times as fans we tend to think that players owe us something, that they might base their decision solely on fan support or appreciation, or that how they’re perceived by a former fan base could hold sway over them. In reality, while there could be little truths to that, more often than not those things appear to have little weight in a player’s ultimate decision.

The fact is, beyond basketball these guys are real people with real lives and an idea of where they want to be. We’re quick to judge a player for leaving a franchise and going somewhere else (I’m guilty of it, too. Sorry, Kevin Durant.) when in reality, which one of us would turn down an offer that put us in a better work situation that would ultimately make us happier?

However, even with all of that being said, Hayward hasn’t ever really expressed that he’s unhappy in Utah to our knowledge, so unless he has a real reason to leave, hopefully he’s taking at least some notice of how devastating this revelation is for fans of the Indiana Pacers. Especially given the hope PG had left them following his comments at the charity softball game, the way he’s handled this has been tough for fans and eliminated any leverage his former team might have had.

Like I said, making fans feel good is far from players’ ultimate motivator, but I have to believe that at some point and to some degree, Paul George is going to feel bad for skipping out on Indiana and that’s something he’ll have to live with. Hopefully as Hayward is thinking about leaving Utah behind, he’ll consider how much the fan base loves him, how much Dennis Lindsey has committed to building around him and how incredible of a legacy he could build with the Jazz.

Maybe each of those three things will amount to nothing, but after seeing the devastation of Pacers fans on Twitter alone, it certainly isn’t something that can be ignored.

At the end of the day, I imagine that Gordon Hayward’s decision likely won’t be all that affected by George. If George goes to Cleveland, Hayward could still very well see Boston as an attractive landing spot and feel just as good about his chances to take down the Cavs as the Warriors. If George ends up in Boston on the other hand, perhaps Gordon likes the thought of playing alongside him.

Or perhaps George goes to any of the other 28 teams in the league besides Utah or Indiana and it has little bearing on Hayward’s decision as he could very well be leaning towards a return to Utah as things stand now. We won’t know for sure until all this dust settles, but with the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday and free agency starting just over a week after that, it may not take long for the Paul George trade to reach a conclusion and for Hayward’s decision to become clearer.

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One of the best things about the NBA offseason is getting to see how one single move can create a domino effect and ultimately alter the league as a whole. With a player with the prominence of Paul George involved, you can bet that the trade sending him away from Indiana for the first time in his NBA career will be one of those league-altering decisions.

And whether the Utah Jazz are directly involved or not, whatever decision the Pacers reach this summer, there’s no doubt that the Jazz will be one of the teams significantly affected by whatever comes of Paul George.