Utah Jazz Have Given Gordon Hayward Some Offensive Help … Finally
Gordon Hayward is in the final guaranteed year of his contract. With a player option available to him next year, the Utah Jazz had to give him some help and make some noise in the playoffs.
The Utah Jazz are an elite defensive team. They were able to keep their opposition at an average of 95.9 points per game. Second best in the NBA last season. However, their offense was ranked 28th last season. Unfortunately, this is due to too much of the load being on Gordon Hayward.
This off season the Utah Jazz have decided that Hayward needs more help offensively. Hayward last season averaged 19.7 points per game at 43 percent from the field.
Hayward was fantastic and was probably in the running for an All-Star berth. He didn’t get one, but he will get the call up soon.
Hayward made 68 percent of his two point field goals unassisted, meaning that two-thirds of his field goals were created by himself.
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Second in points per game last year was Derrick Favors. He averaged a healthy 16.4 points per game, shooting at 52 percent from the field. The difference is that 64.6 percent of his field goals were assisted by a team mate, that is almost two thirds of his made shots were assisted.
Rudy Gobert, who is the third member of the starting frontcourt, averaged 9.7 points per game at 56 percent from the field. He also had a high number of assists shots with 62.6 percent of his total field goals coming from assists from other players.
What do these numbers mean? It means that in the front court, the pressure is on for Gordon Hayward to create shots. It also means that there is pressure on the back court to get the ball into a good position for their big men to take over.
Help By Addition
This season there should be less pressure on Hayward as a result of some great work by the Utah front office. Boris Diaw is a player who has exceptional passing ability for a big man and changes the offensive structure for the Jazz just by being there.
Favors and Gobert combined averaged 3.0 assists per game last year in just under 64 minutes per game combined. In just 18 minutes per game, Diaw averaged 2.3 assists with the San Antonio Spurs.
This makes the Jazz less predictable and will allow Hayward to cut without the ball or space the floor on the perimeter with the potential for greater reward when he plays with Diaw.
The second addition and probably the most important one for Hayward is that of Joe Johnson. Johnson is so important for the Jazz now for so many reasons. First, Johnson provides Utah with a legitimate small forward backup when Hayward is taking a rest.
This is crucial for the Jazz to succeed. Chris Johnson and Joe Ingles are just not good enough to threaten other NBA defenses. Joe Johnson is.
Johnson also showed last season that when he is not the main guy, his shooting percentages go up. He improved his shooting percentage from 40.6 percent at the Brooklyn Nets to 51.8 percent while with the Miami Heat. His scoring improved from 11.8 to 13.4 points per game.
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Johnson also brings experience with him, 15 years of it. He will help Hayward grow. Last season, Hayward and Favors were the most experienced players with six seasons under their belt.
With the addition of Johnson, Diaw and George Hill, who will be discussed later, they have added 26 total seasons experience. The rest of the Jazz roster has a total of 50 seasons between them.
The third addition which will help Hayward is Hill, who played with the Indiana Pacers last season. In a position-less NBA, Hill is a combo guard who has made a career out of being what is needed. His eight years experience will help Shelvin Mack.
Mack was the third-string point guard for the Atlanta Hawks last season who by default became Utah’s stater.
The experience of Hill will allow Hayward better shot selection. He will assume greater ball handling duties, allowing Hayward to get himself into more dangerous positions to score without extra defense coming to help his opponent.
Help By Subtraction
One thing in sport which is essential for success is trust in your team mates. Firstly, trust that they will make that shot and secondly trust that they will make the right decision. The big one for me is trust that they will not make your life harder.
How could Gordon Hayward trust Trey Burke, who takes ill advised shots? He would take shots when other players were in better positions. Burke was Utah’s starting point guard until Dante Exum surpassed him as a team man, and also with his great defense, as a rookie.
Burke is a career 38.4 percent field goal shooter, he is also a 32.9 percent three-point shooter. Neither of these numbers compare to his college numbers. In college Burke shot 49.9 percent from the field and 36.7 from three.
It is safe to say that his game has not transitioned to the NBA as well as Hayward needed.
By taking this point guard out of the Jazz, it is like removing infection from a wound. Without the Burke issue, Hayward will have greater trust in his teammates. This will make him more dangerous as he will have more options to drive and dish, keeping opposition defenses guessing.
Hayward has already shown how dangerous he is with a player like Burke with him, how will he be when he can trust Hill or Joe Johnson.
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Teams try and make themselves better, through the draft, through free agency and through trade. The Utah Jazz improved their organization which is going to allow Gordon Hayward to have an even better year, hopefully leading the Jazz into the playoffs.