10. Gordon Hayward, forward, Utah Jazz
Brad Stevens was the first person to tell Gordon Hayward he might someday play in the NBA. Now, he's an all-star. https://t.co/GbEq3aURHH
— IndyStarSports (@IndyStarSports) January 28, 2017
It’s somewhat hard to believe, but Utah currently finds itself with a 33-19 record and as the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Sure improvements from the team’s backcourt has played a role here, but Hayward has been the glue to keep this whole thing together. He’s simply playing tremendous all-around basketball.
Having improved in each of his first seven seasons in the NBA, the 26-year-old Hayward is having by far the best year of his career. He’s averaging 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per outing. He’s also shooting at a six-year best 47 percent from the field and a tremendous 39 percent mark from distance.
What’s made Hayward so valuable to the Jazz outside of their record is his tremendous level of consistency. He’s put up 20-plus points in 34 of his 45 outings this season. To put this into perspective, Utah’s second and third-leading scorers (George Hill and Rodney Hood) have combined for 20 games of 20-plus points.
Of course, there’s the injury issue that should come into play here as well. Hill, Hood and Derrick Favors have combined to miss 53 games this season. Even then, Utah is on pace to have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. That’s reason enough to include Hayward in this list.