First off I want to apologize to my family. And maybe some of you reading this need to as well. I spent the majority of my 4th of July holiday refreshing my twitter and espn app. But you can’t blame it all on me.
Gordon Hayward should take some of the blame. After all he is the reason the mobs of angry Jazz fans took to twitter after reports surfaced of his non-commital/commitment to the Boston Celtics organization.
He found a way to screw the Utah Jazz organization and it’s fans over in 4 different ways by my count.
Let us painfully count the ways…
Screw over #1: He is leaving the Utah Jazz with a huge hole on a what was a successful Jazz team.
Make no mistakes about it, this hurts. There is a big hole on this Jazz team and any free agent replacement Dennis Lindsay is targeting will not fill the void left behind.
Screw over #2: Gordon Hayward took 4 days to decide that he was headed out the door to Boston.
This resulted in taking away multiple opportunities for the Jazz to woo other free agents. Bye bye Paul Millsap. Enjoy LA Danillo Gallinari. Take it easy Otto Porter.
Screw over #3: He let Jazz management believe that signing certain players to new contracts would help keep him around.
You have to believe that Jazz management talked to Hayward about what they could do to keep him in a Jazz uniform. Signing Joe Ingles to a generous contract was a big checkmark. Moving up to draft Donovan Mitchell was another check mark. And even though the Jazz didn’t resign George Hill, signing Rubio was a pretty savvy move. All moves intended to help keep Hayward happy.
Screw over #4: Gordon Hayward gave no indication to Jazz management that he was probably going to leave Utah.
Dennis Lindsay had made several statements that they were optimistic about there chances at keeping Hayward around, that they could create a compelling argument for him to stay in Utah. But did Hayward give Lindsay any heads up? No.
Instead he put the Jazz in a no win scenario by dragging his feet as he mulled over his decision. Now the Jazz are left with limited options in a free agency market that is nearly dried up.
Where does this leave the Utah Jazz? Where do the Jazz fall in line in the now even tougher western conference? Your guess is as good as mine.
Maybe this triggers a bit of a rebuild. Or maybe the Jazz try and trade some assets to bring in a player that could keep the Jazz competitive. After all, it would be a shame to waste the prime years and talent of Rudy Gobert on a rebuild.
But lets be honest, we already know who will be playing for the world championship trophy in 2018. It’s no secret. The road to conquer the Warriors just got harder for Utah and the now stronger western conference. But was it ever even possible with Hayward at the helm?
Probably not.
But let’s not get all doom and gloom. There are still some positive things to hang your hat on Jazz fans. For starters…
A top center in Rudy Gobert.
A high potential draft pick in Donovan Mitchell.
A proven coach in Quin Snyder.
A hardworking and smart GM in Dennis Lindsay.
Just to name a few.
There is reason for optimism Jazz fans. Still reasons to see what this Jazz team can become. After all, it wasn’t to long ago that the champion Golden State Warriors were near the bottom of the league.
Maybe the Utah Jazz just had to take a step back in order to take a big leap forward.
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