Gordon Hayward
We will look at Gordon early on because I want to create some buzz about the rookie fresh off a stellar National Championship game run.
Origin: March 23, 1990 in Brownsville, Ind
Upbringing: Born to an undersized father, it was assumed Gordon Jr. was destined to be a guard. His father pushed him to develop his guard skills. As a 5’11 freshman he almost abandoned basketball to pursue tennis but by his junior year, he had shot up to 6’7 and 6’8 in his senior year. He received 3 Indiana-area scholarships and ultimately settled on Butler because 6:30 am practices would not interfere with his computer programming major and Butler enabled his twin sister to join him on campus and play tennis.
As a college athlete, everyone by now knows about his shining moment in the NCAA tourney. When he started on the U-19 US Men’s team, that is when the NBA dream became real to him and he decided to abandon his junior and senior seasons.
Keys to his Game: Guard skills in a 6’9 frame. He is a great shooter, passser, and dribbler, plays surprisingly good defense as long as it is within a scheme, and is a deceptive rebounder. He will struggle at the NBA level beneath and around the rim but can find a long career as a spot shooter and mid-range attacker.
Best White Boy Feature: Indiana farm boy ears.
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Interesting observations: He came from an incredible system that was predicated upon two things: run the offense through Gordon and play a cohesive team defense. Both of those things won’t happen in the NBA. Can Hayward flourish in the NBA style of game? I think he can if he is willing to adapt. As a cerebral guy, I think he has potential.
NBA Career: Drafted by Utah with the 9th pick
Nickname(s): Flash Gordon Hayward (lame)
Proposed New Nickname: Corn (you know, because of Indiana and the big ears and all).
Closest Comparison (Current or Historic): Mike Miller
White Boy Level: This is purely based on potential. I will give him a 6.5 out of 10. I see that as his ceiling. A quality back up who can score in bunches, make funny Internet cameos and even hold his own on the defensive end.
Skill Level: Potentially 5.5 out of 10. I don’t see Hayward representing his conference in an all star game, and I don’t even seeing him in the starting line up of a quality playoff team. But that doesn’t mean, he can’t have an above-average career has a bench scorer on a good team or a starting forward on a 30 win team that is fun to watch.
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