In a usually quiet time for NBA Basketball, the Utah Jazz have managed to find themselves front and center with the retirement of Gordon Hayward and the signing of Lauri Markkanen. These two events are connected to the Jazz's future; their young talent and the contract situations down the road.
The seven-year Hayward era was a steady rebuild that finally put the Jazz in contention, winning 51 games in 2016-17. Excitement was the most it had been in decades for the franchise, and Hayward was the face of it until he finally announced he was leaving for Boston to join his college coach Brad Stevens.
What went wrong with Hayward & why it's relevant
Hayward's fallout with the Jazz began in 2014 when the Jazz let him enter restricted free agency without attempting to extend him. Hayward was taken aback by the Jazz's willingness to simply let some other team give him a contract offer that they would match instead of re-signing him before that became an option, which is how things unfolded.
Despite him progressing into a two-way star over the next three seasons, the damage beforehand couldn't be undone. Ultimately, the relationship had turned too sour, and Boston's offer was too attractive. Even if this situation looks bad merely in hindsight, it is something that the Jazz can avoid in the future by making sure they are proactive in taking care of their young talent so they don't follow in Hayward's footsteps.
With the Jazz's good future shaping up, they already have begun to show that they've learned from the fallout with Hayward when these situations arise again.
Danny Ainge had no intention of trading Lauri Markkanen without a massive haul in return, it seems pretty clear in the aftermath. Markkanen was going to be paid, either by the Jazz or by the team that traded everything for him. If the lessons from Hayward are applied, the Jazz likely kept open communication with Markkanen through the whole process.
In a funny twist of irony, what the Boston Celtics are doing right now may be a model for the Jazz to follow. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are homegrown by the Celtics, and their organization wasn't afraid to shell out supermax contracts for their stars. When they did, it was not a foolproof plan when they extended them.
We still have a long way to get to that point, but if Cody Williams, Kyle Filipowski, Keyonte George, or any potential draft picks they hit on blow up, the Jazz need to be willing to reward their guys as soon as they can.
The Jazz aren't fully at fault for the Hayward fiasco, but they also made many mistakes in the process. If the Jazz want to return to the status they held in the 90s, they have to commit to their guys and build around them, and it all seems to be coming together, starting with Lauri Markkanen.