Watched part of the Jazz-Warriors series. Wasn't all that impressed with Hayward. Don't understand the incessant bromance on acquiring him on CB. He's a good player, but didn't make that much difference in their last series. Probably wouldn't do much more for the Celtics. 

His stats for that series:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2017-nba-western-conference-semifinals-jazz-vs-warriors.html

Watched part of the Jazz-Warriors series. Wasn't all that impressed with Hayward. Don't understand the incessant bromance on acquiring him on CB. He's a good player, but didn't make that much difference in their last series. Probably wouldn't do much more for the Celtics. 

His stats for that series:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2017-nba-western-conference-semifinals-jazz-vs-warriors.html

I agree. Hayward is pretty good but not good enough to make us elite. I wouldn't be upset if we signed him but missing out on him wouldn't be devastating either.

I think YES, and it's not all b/c of Brad Stevens or the ECF, but the types of shots available.

Olynk and Crowder didn't have big offensive outputs in various games this past series b/c they are offensive juggernauts, but b/c the scheme and players on the team lead to a lot of wide open three pointers.  I have to think Hayward looks at that and imagines himself getting all of those looks, which are a heck of a lot better than the ones he gets in Utah. 

I think it would be a much bigger factor if the Celtics prove they are close to being competitive with the Cavs. If they get swept, I doubt beating the Wizards in a close 7-game series will mean much at all in Hayward's thinking. The league is very top-heavy and it's really difficult to jump from the 2nd tier to the 1st. Just because we made the ECF doesn't mean we're necessarily at that tier yet.

The Celtics will have to make the case that despite Utah having some talent, this Celtics team is closer to actually joining that top tier. I would make the case that in the next few years the Warriors with Durant is still a tougher mountain to climb than the Cavs with an older LeBron.

Then I would point out that while Utah has done a great job with finding talent (especially Gobert), they still don't really have that secondary offensive star that would make his life a lot easier, nor do they have the cap space or assets to acquire one. They would have to do some kind of overpay like say, Hood, Exum, and/or Favors, plus multiple future first rounders to even start a conversation. It would gut their team of bench depth and assets for the forseeable future.

Also, as good as Gobert is, teams are able to neutralize him by going small and forcing him to abandon the paint. I would expect the Celtics to point this out in a delicate manner.

I don't understand how anyone can use the Golden State series as a proper evaluation to determine the impact Hayward would have one our team.  Only true tier 1 Superstars should be measured in a series like that.  It's not like Hayward completely disappeared.  Utah is the slowest pace team in the league and posed no threat to the Warriors.  Hayward would be such a great fit on the Celtics.  How does everyone think IT would have fared against Golden State if he was with Utah?     

Quote from: Alleyoopster on May 16, 2017, 09:38:18 AM

Watched part of the Jazz-Warriors series. Wasn't all that impressed with Hayward. Don't understand the incessant bromance on acquiring him on CB. He's a good player, but didn't make that much difference in their last series. Probably wouldn't do much more for the Celtics. 

His stats for that series:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2017-nba-western-conference-semifinals-jazz-vs-warriors.html

I agree. Hayward is pretty good but not good enough to make us elite. I wouldn't be upset if we signed him but missing out on him wouldn't be devastating either.

Hayward isnt a superstar, but he was really good in that GSW series. Not sure what you are talking about. Especially impressive as he was the sole focus of GSW defense.

As I've said numerous times now, I'm pretty sure we will not have the cap space to sign Hayward unless we renounce a good number of our current players, including Olynyk (who's played well all playoffs long, and is a major reason why we are in the ECF).

The cap implications will be much clearer once we know our pick tonight but for sure unless we complicate things one of KO/Bradley would have to go, possibly followed by Rozier. On top of the UFAs.