Seeking some long-term peace with the Gordon Hayward case

[Androslav]

I am very torn on Gordons season like we all are.
We are bouncing between hoping, doubting, cheering and giving up when we see him go high to low from game to game. 30 pts then 2, a string of good games then an ankle tweak.

Being 100% honest, up to this point he is probably the worst Max contract of all time if we take account his production.
(Parsons and Washingtons both Arenas and Wall, whose deal is just starting, are strong contenders for the title)
Last year - no production, both reg. season and playoffs.
This year - unreliable production, we don't know what will he become in the playoffs.
That's basically 1,5/4 years down the drain.

So what is the most similar case to Gordons?
We are looking for an ex-all-star wing, 27-28 years old, with a severe ankle injury, that's versatile, smart, can be described as a good kid, and has signed a huge contract prior to the injury. Oh, and he should have the same initials.

Grant Hill, fits all of the criteria.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hillgr01.html
He had a disastrous career in Orlando, but after some tough years, he managed to return to the starter level of performance. Not an all-star level, but still a solid player up to the unexpected age of 38.

If Gordon's destiny is to be that guy, I could emotionally reconcile with that. It was one hell of an injury, after all, we didn't get the All-star we hoped we would, but still, he came back and gave us something.

I still hope that he will get to that higher level just like he did tonight versus the Warriors.
Hope is still there. Consolation scenario is written, shared and saved to a folder, in case there is a need.

[KGBirdBias]

Well last night is 3xactly what we need from Hayward and this team. I saw enthusiasm for teammates, Kyrie engaged, great effort all game.

Hayward was great.

Ok now we need to duplicate that effort tonight. Please don't revert back. If someone is tired or doesn't have it, get them out the game and let the guys who have energy play.

[JSD]

Max contracts of yesteryear were a lot more crushing than Gordon’s 4 year deal. In fact, a team that has space like Dallas, Utah or another team that strikes out in free agency, would probably be open to absorbing Gordon a 2 year max deal, with the understanding that he’s going be getting better and better the further he gets away from that injury. Not saying I want to do this, just saying that the option is there if necessary.

[gouki88]

GH is not even close to being the worst max contract of all time.

[philr13]

I am very torn on Gordons season like we all are.

Being 100% honest, up to this point he is probably the worst Max contract of all time if we take account his production.

Grant Hill, fits all of the criteria.

Hayward is still rehabbing from a severe injury. It's really unfair to assess his value based on his play this season. The fact that he's been physically able to play most of the games this season already indicates that he's nowhere near the worst contract of all time. There have been other players who missed a much larger portion of their careers to injury and haven't shown the flashes of returning to their old form that Hayward has.

Grant Hill's ankle injury was more complicated than Hayward's. Hayward's break was actually above the ankle. I believe Hill required multiple surgeries and there were complications from infection as well. He missed more games than Hayward has.

[gouki88]

I am very torn on Gordons season like we all are.

Being 100% honest, up to this point he is probably the worst Max contract of all time if we take account his production.

Grant Hill, fits all of the criteria.

Hayward is still rehabbing from a severe injury. It's really unfair to assess his value based on his play this season. The fact that he's been physically able to play most of the games this season already indicates that he's nowhere near the worst contract of all time. There have been other players who missed a much larger portion of their careers to injury and haven't shown the flashes of returning to their old form that Hayward has.

Grant Hill's ankle injury was more complicated than Hayward's. Hayward's break was actually above the ankle. I believe Hill required multiple surgeries and there were complications from infection as well. He missed more games than Hayward has.

Yeah, from '00-'01 to the start of '04-'05 Grant Hill played 47 games. GH is already way ahead of that this season alone

[Jiri Welsch]

GH is not even close to being the worst max contract of all time.

Yeah, totally agree.

Also this is a poorly timed post considering he helped us win last night and helped us with our comeback against the Rockets...

[seancally]

GH is not even close to being the worst max contract of all time.

See Wall, John.

[Androslav]

I am very torn on Gordons season like we all are.

Being 100% honest, up to this point he is probably the worst Max contract of all time if we take account his production.

Grant Hill, fits all of the criteria.

Hayward is still rehabbing from a severe injury. It's really unfair to assess his value based on his play this season. The fact that he's been physically able to play most of the games this season already indicates that he's nowhere near the worst contract of all time. There have been other players who missed a much larger portion of their careers to injury and haven't shown the flashes of returning to their old form that Hayward has.

Grant Hill's ankle injury was more complicated than Hayward's. Hayward's break was actually above the ankle. I believe Hill required multiple surgeries and there were complications from infection as well. He missed more games than Hayward has.

Yeah, from '00-'01 to the start of '04-'05 Grant Hill played 47 games. GH is already way ahead of that this season alone

I used "the worst max ever" term a bit freely there, more as an overstatement to describe the discrepancy between our initial expectations and his realistic on floor production these past 2 years. And if you look at it, up to this point circa 50 million $ for 60/166 games of average production, that's, in all truth, a horrible return on this investment. Perhaps some are worse, I also wrote some that could rival it.
We can debate on what max is actually the worst, but this post is more in the light of how to make his whole bizarre situation more acceptable to me as a fan. We love this team so much, we emotionally invest ourselves and it's hard to sustain that in the middle of his highs and lows. I guess I need some sort of middle ground.

[JBcat]

I am very torn on Gordons season like we all are.

Being 100% honest, up to this point he is probably the worst Max contract of all time if we take account his production.

Grant Hill, fits all of the criteria.

Hayward is still rehabbing from a severe injury. It's really unfair to assess his value based on his play this season. The fact that he's been physically able to play most of the games this season already indicates that he's nowhere near the worst contract of all time. There have been other players who missed a much larger portion of their careers to injury and haven't shown the flashes of returning to their old form that Hayward has.

Grant Hill's ankle injury was more complicated than Hayward's. Hayward's break was actually above the ankle. I believe Hill required multiple surgeries and there were complications from infection as well. He missed more games than Hayward has.

Yeah, from '00-'01 to the start of '04-'05 Grant Hill played 47 games. GH is already way ahead of that this season alone

I used "the worst max ever" term a bit freely there, more as an overstatement to describe the discrepancy between our initial expectations and his realistic on floor production these past 2 years. And if you look at it, up to this point circa 50 million $ for 60/166 games of average production, that's, in all truth, a horrible return on this investment. Perhaps some are worse, I also wrote some that could rival it.
We can debate on what max is actually the worst, but this post is more in the light of how to make his whole bizarre situation more acceptable to me as a fan. We love this team so much, we emotionally invest ourselves and it's hard to sustain that in the middle of his highs and lows. I guess I need some sort of middle ground.

I was one hoping to sign Blake Griffin as I though he might fit better with our team considering we already had 2 wings in Brown and Tatum, and also Crowder at the time.  However Tatum was just drafted, and Brown didn’t do a whole lot his rookie year so it made some sense.  Of course we only had Crowder for another couple months prior to the Irving trade.

It’s ironic though I was worried about Griffin’s injury history, but he has been injury free and has been playing awesome this year.  It will be interesting to see how both play the remainder of their contracts.

[CFAN38]

GH is not even close to being the worst max contract of all time.

I agree, Role, Healthy and Confidence are all currently working again Hayward. Last nights game shows that he can still be an the All-star wing he was signed to be. A lot will depend on the role he has available next season but if Irving does leave I expect we see a near UTAH level season from Hayward.

[fairweatherfan]

Grant Hill was better than Hayward before he got hurt and then couldn't stay on the court for like a half-decade. Kinda more extreme on both ends.

We can see from his good games that Hayward's still got it, he just can't bring it most nights and sometimes can't bring anything at all. We'll have to take what we can get and see how he continues to recover. For now just root for the nothing games to fade out, the so-so games to continue to improve and hope he can have a few of those explosion games in the playoffs.

[LilRip]

While I do think G Hill was a better player than Hayward probably ever will be, I think Hayward post-injury will be a much better player than Hill was post-injury.

Imo it’s a confidence and rhythm thing at this stage. He doesn’t have the same explosiveness and he probably won’t get that until next year, but it looked like GH had a point to prove in the GSW game (remember there were comments that GH was a huge liability?)

He’s a smart enough and skilled enough player to not let diminished athleticism destroy his game. He can still have an impact. It’s just a matter of attitude and confidence imo. Some great cuts last night and some good looking shots

[philr13]

up to this point circa 50 million $ for 60/166 games of average production, that's, in all truth, a horrible return on this investment

Considering that max salaries go up every year this doesn't make sense to me as a way to look at this.

The return on investment that the team is hoping for is a championship. Hayward still looks like he could be a big contributor to achieving that goal.

To my mind, as a fan, a player suffering a major injury is a disappointment but it doesn't mean the team made a bad decision. Injuries suck, but they happen. As a fan, I find players who simply don't live up to expectations to be the real busts in sports. High draft picks (Oden, Fultz, etc) or free-agent saviors like Carmelo in NY, Howard in LA, or maybe Lebron in LA.

[ozgod]

GH is not even close to being the worst max contract of all time.

I don't even think he's in the top 10 worst max contracts of all time.