BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 2: Gordon Hayward #20 and Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics are seen during the game against the Charlotte Hornets during a preseason game on October 2, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
Utah Jazz: Kyrie recruited Gordon Hayward back in 2014?
According to former Cleveland Cavaliers GM David Griffin, Kyrie Irving had Gordon Hayward ready to jump from the Utah Jazz in 2014.
Super teams and big threes are all the rage these days, but we never really got to see the one that may have been the most intriguing this season. I’m talking about former Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving and Al Horford.
The trio joined forces last summer and were supposed to take the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, Hayward’s opening night injury kept us from seeing what he and Irving, in particular, could do on the hardwood.
Jazz fans probably aren’t shedding any tears for Beantown, but one can’t help wondering what the two might have accomplished this season. Apparently, it’s something Hayward and Irving have been thinking about for a couple years now.
According to former Cleveland Cavaliers GM David Griffin, Kyrie was looking to team up with G-time way back in 2014. And, had the Cavs not successfully coaxed LeBron James into returning home, they would have worked to make it happen.
Here’s what Griffin said re: Hayward on the Bill Simmons Podcast —
“Kyrie was really engaged in building a team around him, and successfully recruited [Gordon] Hayward, by way of example, as a free agent. And Trevor Ariza would have wanted to come with us.”
A Cavs team built around Irving, Hayward and Trevor Ariza, as well as Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters, undoubtedly would have been one of my League Pass squads back in ’14. However, the prospect of it actually coming together seems problematic at best.
Hayward was a restricted free agent that summer. As such, the Jazz had the right to match any offer sheet he signed. They eventually did so when he got his max deal from the Charlotte Hornets. In hindsight, this probably would have been the case regardless of where he signed.
If Griffin’s story is true, though, it would seem that Hayward was pretty keen on leaving the Jazz that summer. So, maybe Utah really lost him years before Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens ever came calling.
At this point, it’s water under the bridge.
