What is Gordon Hayward's ceiling?

[TylerOO]

He sucks. Next Dunleavy At Best

[El Kabong]

He sucks. Next Dunleavy At Best

That's a bad thing? He was good his first 3 years in Indiana, especially the 07-08 season.

[LosBulls]

Wally Szczerbiak

[FireDavidKahn]

Meh. I don't think he is going to produce much more than what he is right now aside from a higher FG% which should lead to more PPG.

[Court Vision]

He sucks. Next Dunleavy At Best

If that.

Iggy? Wally?

[Xiao Yao You]

Like Hedo maybe?

[El Kabong]

I don't see these Wally Z/Dunleavy comparisons as a terrible thing. I don't think anyone expected him to turn into some sort of superstar, but a solid starter who's your number 3 or 4 guy, what's wrong with that? Teams need guys like that, Hornacek was the #3 guy for the Jazz, yet I don't hear people calling him shit.

[Pushxx]

His ceiling: Prime Hedo
Realistic potential: Current Hedo

[AMISTILLILL]

His ceiling: Prime Hedo
Realistic potential: Current Hedo

[ILLsmak]

People were shitting on this pick, but I think it was a good one. Is he the kind of guy who can be a star? No. But he can be a good role player. He is a real winner and a smart kid who is clutch.

You can take someone like Tyreke Evans and all of his talent and say who would you rather have on your team, and it's pretty easily Gordon. So, he's definitely a capable starter on a championship winning team.

That's a great ceiling, to me.

-Smak

[G-train]

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that most of the posters in this thread haven't seen him play more than once.

[El Kabong]

People were shitting on this pick, but I think it was a good one. Is he the kind of guy who can be a star? No. But he can be a good role player. He is a real winner and a smart kid who is clutch.

You can take someone like Tyreke Evans and all of his talent and say who would you rather have on your team, and it's pretty easily Gordon. So, he's definitely a capable starter on a championship winning team.

That's a great ceiling, to me.

-Smak

Exactly right. Seems most people have a superstar or bust mentality about players, especially lottery picks.

[hawksdogsbraves]

People were shitting on this pick, but I think it was a good one. Is he the kind of guy who can be a star? No. But he can be a good role player. He is a real winner and a smart kid who is clutch.

You can take someone like Tyreke Evans and all of his talent and say who would you rather have on your team, and it's pretty easily Gordon. So, he's definitely a capable starter on a championship winning team.

That's a great ceiling, to me.

-Smak

Uh no it's not. Tyreke is not the kind of guy you want on your team because he has to have the ball in his hands to be successful, but he is much, much more talented than Hayward and I think you could make something out of him with some actual competent coaching.

Getting a fringe starter/decent bench player at number 9 overall is decent value I suppose.

[DMV2]

He's one of the better perimeter defenders in the league and he's only a sophomore. And you can tell he takes pride in playing defense- can't get that from many players.

Offensively, he has good handles and likes cutting through paint and move without the ball. Unfortunately, he's not a good finisher and can't shoot well.

His biggest weakness is that he can get rattled and frustrated easily if he's having an off-night. Like the game against Toronto two weeks ago. He was just awful that night.

[Xiao Yao You]

I don't see these Wally Z/Dunleavy comparisons as a terrible thing.

Me either.

I don't think anyone expected him to turn into some sort of superstar, but a solid starter who's your number 3 or 4 guy, what's wrong with that?

I think many did just because the Jazz haven't had many picks that high for a long time.

Teams need guys like that, Hornacek was the #3 guy for the Jazz, yet I don't hear people calling him shit.

But the Jazz need stars so maybe George would have been a better pick? Aldrich was the one everyone was wanting at the time though and he hasn't shown much yet.

Hayward is a player and a good fit in Utah. How much he matures physically and as a player remains to be seen.