It's looking like the Jazz will be the 5th seed and will have to face a tough Clippers team without home court advantage. If the Jazz are one-and-done, and Gordon Hayward is not eligible for a Designated Veteran Player Extension (super-max), I think he leaves for a better team. If all that ends up being so, can the Rockets clear enough cap space by moving Trevor Ariza and Lou Williams to sign Hayward to a max deal? I don't think you can go toe-to-toe with the Warriors unless you add another all-star, and it seems like Hayward would be available.
Would love Hayward He's a great fit next to harden. If we can keep a core of Bev Gordon Anderson Capela Nene Around harden and Hayward. I like our chances moving foward. Morey has shown the ability to find good complimentary pieces so I don't think it would be to difficult to add small pieces here and there. Bev Harden Hayward Anderson Capela Gordon Nene Dekker It's bacially puts us with the same team before the Lou Williams deal except you have Hayward over Ariza which imo is huge. Hayward is shooting 39% from three and is a legit two way player can handle the ball and playmake as well as finish around the hoop. He's a great FA target and the guy I would pursue the most.
He would be an amazing addition. I just haven't watched enough jazz games to depict his defensive capabilities.
Keep an eye on the All NBA team selections. If Hayward makes it apparently he gets a significant increase in the extension he could sign which may ultimately sway his decision to stay or leave.
He won't make it... too tight in the West. Also would much rather have Paul George. JS. But would take Hayward at the expense of Ariza and Williams.
Paul George wants that All-NBA nod, too, which he's gotten 3 times before. He deserves it more than Haywood. I think they both get screwed this year though, as three SFs don't have to be picked, and Giannis might make it, too.
Would have to dump Anderson to open up enough cap to sign. I'd totally be for that but first Hayward has to want to come here, and second it might not be to easy to dump Anderson with his giant contract.
Hayward would have to guard the best wing player every night. IMO his offensive production is negated if he has to do that. I would dump Anderson and play Hayward at the 4, with Harrell (who I think will have a decent 3 ball by next season) backing him up as a bigger PF. We could then be generous playing Hayward at the 3 based on matchups. It's the only way I see it really working. Think about it for a second. If Harden is starting and Hayward is the starting SF, one of those two has to guard the best wing man because Pat has to guard the smaller guys. That's a catastrophe and we are already have scary lack of defensive talent. Imagine going into a season with Harden/Hayward guarding the best wing man and Anderson guarding athletic PF's? We would actually win fewer games imo. I really have no problem with Hayward at PF though. He couldn't possibly be worse than Anderson defensively, but he is certainly an upgrade offensively. But I also wonder if we can get 90% of the same production by paying 50% of the price if we sign Gallinari instead.
I think it is going to be really tough to grab Hayward out of Utah. Honestly, I think we have a better chance of getting a prima donna superstar looking for a change. Blake Griffin has some intriguing shooting percentages this year. 75 percent from the line, 35 percent from three. He can also be a secondary play-maker at an unusual position for us, Josh Smith style. I just can't imagine how dominant he could be in a D'Antoni system with far less pressure around, and James to set him up for easy ones. If I had to guess, that's the star I would think is most likely to change teams, especially If they choke in the playoffs again.
You could get close to $30m, which is Hayward's max this summer (not sure if he qualifies for the 35% supermax by getting selected on an All-NBA team). If we don't pick up our options on WIltjer, Brown, Taylor, Troy we have about $14m cap space. Trading Ariza and Lou gets us to $29m. So in theory we could put an offer that Hayward would entertain from a monetary point of view. Practically though, he is not an ideal fit. As others have pointed out we need Ariza's defence at the SF spot. If we are to replace Ariza, a better star target would be Paul George. However, we need to re-think our SF/PF rotation this summer. Neither of our current starters has the ability to put the ball on the floor, drive to the basket, create for themselves or others. Our starting guards fit great together, and provide the perfect balance between offense and defense, hustle and creativity; we need a similarly balanced combo from our forwards. I would be open to trading Anderson (on top of Ariza and Lou) creating $49m in cap space. We could then spend up to $45m for a Millsap/Gallinari combo and have $4m left for vets and rookies (eg renew Nene, sign rookies etc). Finish by using the MLE for another impact sub to complete the rotation next to Nene, Harrell, Dekker, Gordon.
I think if Hayward manages to make an All Nba team ,which I doubt , then he will have to opt in to get next summer his super max extension.
