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POLL: Gordon Hayward's high expectations

Has Hayward lived up to his MAX contract so far this season?

  • Yes, he's balling

    Votes: 34 82.9%

  • No, I was expecting more from him

    Votes: 4 9.8%

  • How dare you question the Almighty

    Votes: 3 7.3%
  • Total voters
    41
I will be the 1st to say that I was expecting the consistency that should come with such a contract, but I haven't seen it.
 
Any comments about Gordon's consistency need to be with an asterisk: the dude needs help creating and taking shots on the perimeter. That was true even when Burks was healthy; now it's especially true. Burke, Ingles, Exum, Hood (even when healthy), DLeaguer.... that's pretty fuggin rough.
 
For one I don't get why he's the game 'closer'. It worked the 1st 2 times we went that way but now that he's been scouted on this it's not as efficient now.
 
Um, he's the "closer" because he's the best at creating his own shot without developing tunnel vision. In other words, he's the best improvisor with the ball in his hands. That much is pretty obvious, dude, like it or not.
 
Jamezz said:
For one I don't get why he's the game 'closer'. It worked the 1st 2 times we went that way but now that he's been scouted on this it's not as efficient now.
Click to expand...

It would certainly be an interesting strategy to go to someone besides your best playmaker to initiate offense down the stretch.
 
I am very much happy with his performance this season. His usage has been raised and his efficiency is up too. I think it would have been disastrous if we had let him go last summer and didn't match. He's been great this season. I firmly believe if we didn't sign him, we would be counting our wins on the fingers of one hand right now. The thing is, I think there's still room for improvement and he would probably be even better if he had a couple more guys playing on his level or better. Right now opponents zero in on him and if they manage to slow him down, we really have problems offensively. His on/off stats are amazing! He's +11 per 100 possession. We are 11 points better with him on the floor...

Right now we are losing just 0.8p per 100 possessions when he's on the floor. No other starter is even close to that.
 
LazyD said:
It would certainly be an interesting strategy to go to someone besides your best playmaker to initiate offense down the stretch.
Click to expand...

Oh so you don't think it's better to mix it up a bit, put in a surprise factor rather than having the opponents know it's just gonna be Hayward making a few dribbles in the high post and then go for the drive to try to score or pass it out to a guy standing in the corner 3? Last time he tried this the other team just closed the back passing line and cost us the game.
 
He is much better this year. Will be better next year when he has more help. Still not a max type player but the decision to match Hornets offer looks right.
 
NAOS said:
Any comments about Gordon's consistency need to be with an asterisk: the dude needs help creating and taking shots on the perimeter. That was true even when Burks was healthy; now it's especially true. Burke, Ingles, Exum, Hood (even when healthy), DLeaguer.... that's pretty fuggin rough.
Click to expand...

Agree.
Hayward has added some great dimensions to his game. But because we don't have good help from the guards (most of the time), it makes it too easy to take him out of the game with a double team up top.
 
Jamezz said:
I will be the 1st to say that I was expecting the consistency that should come with such a contract, but I haven't seen it.
Click to expand...

He's had 5 games under 10pts the entire year. He's been having a horrible January so far, which has contributed 2 of those games. In all of December, he had 2 games under 15pts. Hayward has been pretty damn consistent this year, given the team's situation with injuries and people coming in and out of the lineup, leaving a much weaker team for his to work with. Sure, there are times in the game where it feels he goes kind of invisible, but everybody in the league has those moments. It's completely unfair to him to have expected more from him.

That being said, one area that I feel Gordon has to do better in to further justify his max contract is making free throws in the clutch. The guy is a great free throw shooter, but I feel he shoots way way way less than his season 81% in the 4th quarter of close games. Granted, I haven't watched every single game, but it feels that way in the games I have watched. Anybody else get this feeling?
 
I admit it, I've been a Hayward hater, but I'm impressed how well he is playing this year. He is going to the line at a much higher clip, he's shooting better, and he has to cover the best wing. I worry about him getting burned out, because he has to do a lot in order for us to be competitive. I almost wrote win...bwahahahahaha. Silly me.

He will be considered for the all-star game, but he won't make it because the West is so deep.
 
IMO it is stupid to call all contract a max contract. Hayward makes $14.7 mil this year. That is 29th salary in the league. Below Jeremy Lin, Josh Smith, Asik and above Chandler Parsons. For reference Carmelo's and Lebron's max contracts are $20 plus.

Hayward has been our best overall player. He has his flaws but the offense falls off a cliff when he sits. IMO he is being paid a fair market value. Look at this way we could be paying Eric Gordon the same wage.
 
I hated the contract, but he's lived up to it IMO. He's not a superstar consistent type of player (scoring wise it's not rare to see him with around 6 or so points in first half), but he's really close.
 
Jamezz said:
For one I don't get why he's the game 'closer'. It worked the 1st 2 times we went that way but now that he's been scouted on this it's not as efficient now.
Click to expand...

NAOS said:
Um, he's the "closer" because he's the best at creating his own shot without developing tunnel vision. In other words, he's the best improvisor with the ball in his hands. That much is pretty obvious, dude, like it or not.
Click to expand...


LazyD said:
It would certainly be an interesting strategy to go to someone besides your best playmaker to initiate offense down the stretch.
Click to expand...

These
 
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