Utah Jazz: Still confident after Gordon Hayward’s Miami meeting

The Miami Heat met with Gordon Hayward but despite their positive claims, the Utah Jazz are still the favorites for his signature.

It comes as no surprise, but reports coming from the Miami Heat‘s camp suggest their meeting with Gordon Hayward was nothing but positive.

A banner with his head photoshopped onto a Heat jersey hung out the front of American Airlines Arena – a sneak peek into what it will be like walking into the 41 home games at his potential new home.

Team president Pat Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra and Alonzo Mourning greeted Hayward along with a questionable collection of talent to convince him they can win. Hassan Whiteside, Udonis Haslem, Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson and James Johnson are hardly a group of players that screams championship pedigree, though.

There aren’t many reasons floating around that will have Utah Jazz president Dennis Lindsey any more nervous than the night before after Hayward’s meeting in Miami.

Following the “positive” meeting, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported the Heat identified the extended lifestyle benefits of a move to Florida but mainly concentrated on how he will benefit on the court:

"“Of the obvious positives of playing here – weather, lack of state income tax, the Heat culture and championship pedigree – coaches also explained to Hayward how the offense would play to his strengths.”"

In a conversation that is said to have lasted hours, Riley, Spoelstra and company will have had a tough time convincing Hayward what they have in Miami is more than what he has in Utah.

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Whiteside isn’t the player Rudy Gobert is, while Joe Ingles‘ reported re-signing will excite Hayward more than playing alongside Johnson. Udonis Haslem might be the ultimate locker room guy, but even an injured Derrick Favors is going to light him up on the court.

The Jazz have a much better team than the Heat, that much is obvious. So is the fact Hayward isn’t going to be jumping at the chance to play out a year and wait for Riley to make a splash in 2018 free agency.

If that’s the approach the Heat went with in this meeting, it’s 1-0 to the Jazz.

Coming from a different angle, The Ringer‘s Kevin O’Connor cited Miami’s ability to offer Hayward, more of a “feature scorer role” in what could be another swing and miss approach.

Quin Snyder could offer Hayward more of a scoring role if it was going result in extra wins; after all, that’s what his superstar small forward cares about most.

Not dollars, not shots – only wins.

Miami is relying on Hayward to change the way he has approached the game since being drafted in 2010. They need him to want the spotlight and the fame when he’s been quite happy to chip away in the low-key market of Salt Lake City up until now.

Without negative word ever passing through his lips in regards to the city or the franchise, the Jazz can remain confident Hayward won’t all of a sudden seek the nationwide attention, so many others desire — 2-0 to the Jazz.

With the history of recent free agency periods, we can never be certain what a player is thinking walking out of meetings. When you’ve got a handful of your peers surrounding you telling you how good you are and how good you can be, it makes sense that somebody could be swayed.

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In the case of Hayward and the Heat, though, it’s unlikely the Heat pose the biggest threat. That’s the Boston Celtics who he meets with on Sunday.