5. Gordon Hayward, Utah Jazz
Numbers to know:
0.159 Win Shares per 48 minutes
20.2 PER
Bet you didn’t know those stats rank third among qualified SFs behind Kawhi Leonard and Lebron James. Here are some other interesting facts you may not know about Gordon:
– he has a twin sister, Heather
– he seriously considered quitting basketball to focus on tennis
– he committed to Butler over his parents’ alma mater, Purdue, partly because Heather could also play tennis there
– he’s an avid gamer (yes, that’s his one-month-old daughter on his lap while he plays)
We’ve got plenty of time to learn more about this budding star. As I outlined last week, the Utah Jazz have playoff aspirations with a strong foundation of Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Rudy Gobert. Hayward’s been at the forefront of Utah’s ascension, steadily increasing his scoring in each of his first five seasons and getting to the line more frequently (only 4 players made more free throws).
Referring back to Leonard and James, Hayward also ranks just behind those two in VORP, WS/48, and PER, while ranking third behind James and Gay in Usage%. He quietly had an excellent season but figures to make a lot of “racket” in 2015-16. (See what I did there? Hello? Is this thing on?)
Next: Paul George