I have really enjoyed watching Utah the last couple years as an up and coming team. But what is the path for Utah to get better? They traded their first round pick for George Hill last year, so no 2016 pick to wishcast on. They have 24 and 30 this year, but the general belief from Jonathan Givony and others is that the draft drops off markedly after 15 or so, so I wouldn't be getting too excited about the guys they'll get at those spots to improve their team much in the near term.This is fair. I agree the Celtics are a better bet to win, especially after they add Hayward.
I'm still pretty skeptical that he leaves, as the Jazz are an "up and coming" team even if they're not as shiny as the Celtics. College recruiting was a long time ago.
In order to get Hayward back, they'll in all likelihood have to pay George Hill big money (reports have been that he wants near-max, and that Hayward very much wants him to be there to resign). Then they're totally capped out with Gobert, Hayward and Hill. And their only legitimate hope to improve their team to get to legitimately compete with GS is improvement from Exum (restricted FA next summer and has shown next to nothing in three years), Lyles (looked promising as a rookie and I loved him in college, but stapled to the bench by this postseason), and Hood (has been very promising, but also a restricted FA next summer and has battled injuries). Just don't see the path to a true championship contending team.
So I think Hayward has to look himself in the mirror and ask whether he is okay being an All-Star on a Utah team without any hope of winning a ring any time in the near future, or whether he wants to come to Boston and compete for a championship in the future with his old coach and a group of legitimately exciting young prospects like Brown and Fultz. Unless he and his family just love Utah, I don't think it should be a hard choice.
edit: reading back through the thread, I see that wade boggs chicken dinner already made basically the same points. Totally agree though - it should be a no-brainer basketball wise.
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