Utah Jazz Right To Decline Phoenix Suns Offer For Gordon Hayward
The Utah Jazz were reportedly offered a deal for Gordon Hayward from the Phoenix Suns, but turned it down — and rightfully so.
The Utah Jazz acquired a new point guard this week in a three-team deal with the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks.
The Jazz picked up George Hill, while they sent the No. 12 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft to the Hawks, who shipped Jeff Teague to the Pacers. That was not the only deal that the Jazz had on the table for a point guard, as the Phoenix Suns looked to get in on the action as well.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Suns tried to pry Gordon Hayward away from the Jazz with a package that centered around athletic point guard Eric Bledsoe and a lottery pick.
Sources say Phoenix, in its failed trade pitch to convince Utah to surrender Gordon Hayward, tried to pair Eric Bledsoe with a lottery pick
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 23, 2016
The Suns are on a mission to move either Bledsoe or Brandon Knight, as the results weren’t great with the two of them paired together. The Suns are in an awkward position of wanting to rebuild, but having some players in win-now mode, such as their backcourt duo and Tyson Chandler.
It makes sense for them to want to move those players, but it makes more sense for the Jazz to not want to aid the process.
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The Jazz are on the fringe of being a playoff team, as the point guard spot was the only real sore spot on the team last season. They have solidified the point guard spot by acquiring Hill from the Pacers, and did so without having to surrender the focal point of their team in Hayward.
While Hayward may not be a superstar, he is a solid NBA player and is a borderline All-Star. He has blossomed with the Jazz, becoming a very solid all-around player. He upped his scoring average again during the 2015-16 season, putting up a career high 19.7 points per game to go along with 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
What makes those stats even more impressive is that the Jazz played at the slowest pace of any team in the NBA, relying more on their defense to win games than their offense. The Jazz had by far the slowest pace in the NBA last season, averaging 93.26 possessions per 48 minutes; the next slowest team was the Toronto Raptors at 95.31.
That could have been part of the reason for the Jazz declining the trade offer from the Suns as well. Bledsoe has thrived with the Suns in large part because of the break neck pace that they play at, ranking fourth in the NBA last season. He may not be a fit for the slow pace that the Jazz play at, but the real sticking point had to be the insistence on the Suns’ part that Hayward be involved.
While a lottery pick would have been enticing, they had just traded away their own in the deal for Hill. That could mean the Jazz are looking for more veterans to push them to the next level, not another youngster as they are moving away from the rebuild.
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Hayward is part of the solution for the Jazz, and with the salary cap exploding in the coming seasons, his once iffy contract will be a steal for the organization.