Gordon Hayward Is Utah Jazz's Most Pleasant Surprise At 2015-16 Halfway Point

Gordon Hayward has been phenomenal this season. The Utah Jazz are a fringe playoff team as a result of his efforts, and he had a clutch performance against the Chicago Bulls during Monday night’s overtime victory. Hayward finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds, and most of those came in the fourth quarter or OT.

Chicago had no answer for him, and he nearly won the game in regulation after playing stupendous defense on Jimmy Butler the play before almost hitting a buzzer-beater. Hayward has improved in every aspect of the game, but his biggest stride has been in his ability to finish in traffic. The Jazz have another great player in Rudy Gobert, who is also known as the “Stifle Tower” in some circles, and this should be a duo that excites fans in Utah for a long time to come.

Hayward needs another threat on the offensive end to take some of the pressure off of him, but the Jazz should have plenty of cap room to throw around this summer. It is a shame that free agents don’t seem to like Salt Lake City all that much; however, this is understandable given the lack of nightlife there.

Hayward is averaging 19.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He should be in consideration for most improved player this season, because he has the Jazz just behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the final spot in the Western Conference playoff race. Utah won’t be a threat to win it all in the postseason, but they could catch the eye of a few free agents by overachieving.

Hayward is a big reason why playing for them could be quite fun, and they would become a formidable squad by adding a quality point guard over the summer. He’ll likely not win any major accolades this year, but he has given fans in Utah a reason to cheer for their team once again.