The Jazz were unsure if he was worth the max the last time he hit Agency and told him to see what he was worth on the market; he went and signed a max offer sheet with the Hornets(?), which the Jazz matched. Not exactly an endorsement from Utah. Wonder how that plays out this time around.
"A hero and future MVP is sent to earth" Not happening in our universe. "This one is defined by effort and commitment" This one is laughable. "He is known for his burning desire to win" Desire to win, candy? "The most dominant center of all time" With no post moves. This cartoon gets better with each passing day. If only Dwight played for the Mavericks. I'm sure he could travel back in time and win those 2014 and 2015 championship banners displayed at the end of the video.
Boston makes too much sense for him. They have a young star in IT, awesome role players, a coach he trusts and has a long history with, a potential #1 pick in the draft that they can trade for even more help, and they're in a much easier conference. Lebron is getting older, that conference will be all theirs in a couple of years. If I were him, I'd move if my family were okay with it. Utah's money will be nice, but I'd want to have some fun in my career if I'm getting paid either way. Utah has no room to improve and don't play modern basketball. There's no future there.
Absolutely. But in the grand scheme of things, #1 - have you seen his wife! In all seriousness... she probably has a BIG say. Do remember that Hayward did sign his last contract with the Hornets, before the Jazz quickly matched. #2 - money, money, money. Utah can offer more. I don't know the details, but its at least meaningful difference #3 - Absent a couple of rings ... does it really matter wrt how Hayward is viewed after his career is over. This is a guy who will have a great, solid, career with a few all star games, walk right into broadcasting and be well-liked forever. Is he a HOF'r?? Again, only as an obvious key piece to multiple rings. #4 - Is number 3 really even possible? Hate to be debbie downer... but all 4 of the Warriors key players are in the prime (or even before their primes). The Warriors are in SF, going into a new arena, can't imagine luxury tax really matters all that much. Again, hate to be so negative, but absent significant injuries, this Warriors squad could go to the next 5 Finals and it wouldn't surprise me one bit. The biased homer in me says (a) Hayward on the Rockets would dominate. He'd have a chance to be a near 25 ppg scorer, with 5 boards, 5 assists type thing on this MDA offense, and (b) with him and given that... the Rockets could, conceivable, pose a threat to the Warriors once or twice, and will be in prime position in the event something goes off course with the Warriors. But that's with Hayward added to the current group, which they can't afford anyway - they'd have to jettison Anderson, or Ariza/Lou. We shall see, but my money is on a return to Utah.
Ever since the lockout years ago, S&T contracts now exactly match a contract as if the player were signing with a different team, meaning 4years and smaller annual raises. Only plausible S&T scenarios are ones in which a player is going to a team that does not have cap space.
The way I see it, our only shot at Hayward is if he doesn't make an all-NBA team (Jazz can give him even more money otherwise), and gets crushed with despair from getting swept by the warriors. Even if those things happen, I'd see Boston as a more likely destination. We can perhaps increase our chances with a good series against GS, though it's no given we get out of the 2nd round.
With the Warriors on the map, Hayward will win this Rockets team a ring as the 3rd guy. The team will still not be able to beat the Warriors in a 7 game series with him as the second guy. Still not good enough. Get Hayward and a stud PF, and then this team can go toe to toe with the Curry/Durant/Draymond/Klay.
1) Yes, I have seen pictures of Robyn Hayward. She's so damn hot that she's actually made him a much better looking guy since he hooked up with her. Seriously, look at him today compared to photos from a few years ago. 2) No argument there. I think Utah can't offer as much as they could've had Hayward made an all-NBA team, but they can still outbid other teams. 3) I can't answer that one. It's up to Hayward. Leaving Utah to chase stardom doesn't always work out(ask Deron Williams), but bottom line is that franchise has never won a title. Their last real crack at it was 19 years ago. There are no guarantees in Boston or H-Town or even Golden State, but if he truly wants a ring to validate his career, he's probably better off elsewhere. 4) I'm still not sold on the long-term viability of the Warriors. Iggy is 33 and Livingston is 31. This summer, they have to resign Durant, Curry, Iggy, Clark, McGee, Livingston, McAdoo, Pachulia, and West. The latter 3 are easily replaceable, but McGee has been a huge contributor for them lately and is likely unaffordable. Even if the Warriors throw caution to the wind and eat the luxury tax to retain everyone else, that depth that carried them the last few seasons will be gone for good. Which means whenever the injury bug bites(like in last year's Finals), it could cost them a title.
The luxury tax is the only thing that might bite them (aside from catastrophic injury) and its really hard to see them complaining about the luxury tax given the brand new arena they are moving to. Not a great time to turn into the Thunder and ruin chances of being all time amazing. McGee was plucked out of nowhere. I'm not saying everyone can be McGee.... but I think they can replace McGee with the next plucked out of nowhere type guy. I mean look at Speights... pretty similar player this year... but the impact just seems way different. And its not just plucking guys like that out of nowhere, or vets that want to win a ring... they also draft pretty solid. It's just a solidly run organization. I think the Jazz could have played 6 on 5, or even 7 on 5, and I still am not sure they would have taken a game. I get it's difficult as a fan of any other team to look at it and realize... "FUC!K... I love this sports, and even though my team hadn't won in two decades I at least thought there was a shot.. now there's a freaking dynasty in place" .. cause otherwise, what's the point, right? But I also have to be realistic. These aren't abnormal years these guys are having. Draymond has gotten better. Steph is the same amazing shooter he's always been. Klay's been consistently this good at shooting. KD was putting up one of the most efficient shooting seasons of all time... and guess what!?!?! With all that offense, they're now a consistent top 5 defensive team. They've been 5th, 2nd, 1st and 4th in DRtg the last 4 years. But you know all this. If the Rockets could add Gordon Hayward AND Paul Millsap in the off-season, without losing anyone, I'd give them a fighting chance. But its that way for everyone not named the Warriors and currently the Cavs - who have a chance because oh by the way they have a top 5 all time player in NBA history playing at his absolute peak at the moment, next to a scoring machine PG surrounded by incredibly amazing 3 point shooters. So recognizing its that way for everyone... no clue what Hayward will want to do. The Jazz have no shot, and I can't see a path to a shot... but being a face of a franchise for a decade that is at least competitive while getting paid hundreds of millions of dollars... makes sense for him to stay.
Paul Milsap or Serge Ibaka, Hayward in Anderson out - he's a good three point shooter, but is being molested 3 out of 4 games under the basket. We need a very good rebounder/rim protector that has a decent three point shot
All of this is pointless because it all depends on what the player wants. The guy could love Utah (Yuck) and just want to stay. If he does, then no one has any shot at this unless Utah disrespects him with their offer. He could just want to play with his old coach. He could like MDA's system and wants to come here. So many variables and all of them rely on how he feels.
You may be surprised, the league has changed a lot in the last few years and the Rockets run a system vastly different than anything Hayward has seen in Utah. It is very likely that Hayward would become the second star on the Rockets. I wouldn't be shocked if he averaged 25 points a night on the Rockets, and could play 3 different positions. If you are the Rockets, you try to sell him on the concept that you can expand his game like you did Harden, and make him a super star.
Please for the love of God let Utah blow their cap space for the next 5 years on max contracts for Hayward and George Hill.
But there's one other factor that could still have a huge impact on the Warriors: not winning the title this season. What happens if they fall short? And don't tell me that's not possible. The Cavs are undefeated as well so far in the playoffs, they're the defending champs, and they have the best player in the world. The Warriors won 73 games last season and still needed to come back from 3-1 to beat the Thunder and then lost Games 5 and 7 in the Finals en route to blowing their own 3-1 lead. If Golden State falls to Cleveland(or God forbid the Rockets or Spurs in the WCF), they better be prepared to offer max money to every free agent of theirs. Cuz I don't see a lot of hometown discounts being accepted by their players if there's no guarantee they're getting rings in exchange for less money.
It's hard to know what to root for. Reality is that the Rockets need to add a star or they can't win.
The Rockets do, yes. I'd love Hayward. Gladly would pay him a max, as he would actually vault us to contender status (theoretically. Hard to call anybody a true contender in the Warriors era). The Jazz, though? They're going to bring back the same 4-5 seed team that barely beat an injured Clippers team and got swept by Golden State? Yeah, Gobert was hurt too, but I don't know. Seems dicey. And at the same time...they kind of HAVE to. Can't lose an asset, much less two for nothing, especially for how good each of those players are, and yet are they really going anywhere with those guys? Basically what I'm saying is the Jazz aren't in a good spot. Little to no upside. Even worse than the Clippers, in my opinion.
I agree, but I also don't know if we are in a good spot. Basically will need to spend every summer of Harden's career begging a star to come tag team with him otherwise we'll be scrapping for 2nd round or WCF defeats.
