Lets start with his history. In the event you haven't read his wikipedia entry,
click here.
So who is the guy? Lets look at some clues into what is Gordon Hayward:
"The younger Hayward's first appearance in the sports pages was not in basketball but in tennis; he and his twin sister Heather were featured in a regional edition of the Indianapolis Star when they played mixed doubles together at the Indiana State Open in 2005"
"As a 5'11" (1.80 m) freshman, he seriously considered quitting basketball entirely to focus on tennis; his mother persuaded him to stay with the sport one more year"
"He ultimately chose Butler because the Bulldogs' 6:30 am practices would not interfere with his planned major of computer engineering and because Heather would be able to play tennis there"
"He skipped AAU basketball during the following summer because he wanted to put in enough tennis practice to contend for a state high school title in his senior year."
Time and time again, basketball has taken a back seat, or even a roof rack to his other interests, and his family. Quite good of him, but questionable long term... will he stick with it? I dunno. You could argue his mother would be the deciding factor.
But with all of this, why would we gamble? Lets go to his college years:
"Bulldogs went 26–5 and won the Horizon League. Hayward averaged 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and was named Horizon Newcomer of the Year and first team All-Conference"
"In the offseason, Hayward was selected to Team USA for the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand. Hayward was a surprise star for the Championship squad, averaging 10 points and 5.7 rebounds per game"
"At the conclusion of the tournament, Hayward was named to the "All-Star Five" of the event"
"After raising his profile in the FIBA tournament, Hayward was named to numerous preseason All-America teams, and was a preseason candidate for the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award prior to the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. He was also named preseason All-Horizon League."
"During the 2009–10 season, Hayward was the only player to finish in the Horizon League's top five in both scoring and rebounding"
"Gordon was also in the league's top 10 in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, blocked shots, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding (in which he led the league), and minutes per game"
"At the end of the regular season, he was named the Horizon League Player of the Year."
"Hayward was also named a third-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American"
The kid's got talent, and can do it all, from the 3 up. His Mom doesn't think he has it for the NBA, his Dad wants Gordon to live where he could not. This conflicts with him. We can't cause him more conflict.. The worst thing we can do as a board is alienate him, and/or regret the pick. Fostered correctly, this kid is gonna be a solid rotation Jazzman for years to come. He should have stayed in college for a few more years, yeah... woulda done him some good. But when you're in the top 20, cash is king.
Lets get expectations down. The Utah Jazz are a title contender. You're expecting a rookie NOT taken in the first 5 picks to come in and get rotation minutes over arguably the most versatile wings group in the NBA, in one of the hardest systems to run with?
