National Basketball Association

Utah Jazz: Team playing for Gordon Hayward's future

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:28 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jason Oliver/FanSided via Hoops Habit

The Utah Jazz aren't expected to advance beyond the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs, but a good team performance may determine Gordon Hayward's future.

The Utah Jazz dropped Game 1 of the 2017 NBA Playoffs' Western Conference semifinals to the Golden State Warriors, 106-94, but that came as no surprise to most.

Game 2 looked like it would be a repeat after Utah's awful opening 12 minutes had them down 33-13. After nearly winning the remaining three quarters to eventually lose 115-104, the Jazz will return home knowing they can compete.

The Jazz tried to shake things up in Game 1. Head coach Quin Snyder mixed up the rotation that had already won him a playoff series and 51 regular season games.

To beat the Warriors, Snyder knew he would need to surprise them with something different. A regular game from a solid — but not super — team isn't toppling what might be the greatest collection of five starters the NBA has ever seen.

Even the Jazz players know the odds are stacked against them, but in knowing that, they still have plenty to play for. Namely, five more years of Gordon Hayward.

Minus the first quarter, the Jazz fans should be proud of the way their team battled and played. Lots of heart. #UTAatGSW

— David J. Smith (@davidjsmith1232) May 5, 2017

Hayward is the touch of class the franchise needs to keep heading towards the top. He's the game-winner that is a necessity when battling the NBA's elite teams.

In essence, Hayward is the key to the future for the Jazz.

You could argue Rudy Gobert is the most impactful player, but he's not leading a team to the top of the mountain. To reach the peak, you need a scorer, a finisher, someone that can take over a game when his teammates are having an off night.

Hayward isn't the first player in the NBA that comes to mind when considering those traits. He flies under the radar and scrapes into All-Star teams, but he's more than capable of performing those feats regularly enough with this Jazz squad to threaten the association's elite.

With an option on his contract at the end of this season, Hayward has a few options.

The Designated Player Extension becomes a real factor in his decision if Hayward's name appears on an All-NBA team this season. With that honor, opting into the final year and signing a DPE after next season maximizes his bank account and residency in Utah.

If he fails to make an All-NBA team, Hayward could opt out at the end of this season and play the same off-season game Kevin Durant did last season. Like any smart, professional sportsperson, he will survey the field, do his due diligence, and meet with teams vying for his services.

It's long been known that winning resonates more with Hayward than zero's on a check.

When Hayward sits down and assesses where he will take his talent's next, the regular season win-loss column will be the first point of call, followed by how far they advanced in the 2017 NBA Playoffs.

While looking over his options, Hayward is going to have a little French accent in his ear. Rudy Gobert made his desires pretty clear to HoopsHype.com's Alex Kennedy:

"I'm just going to ask him, 'Do you want to win a championship?
I feel like with the way we've improved the last few years since Quin [Snyder] got here, I don't think it'd be a great decision to leave now."

"Improved" is what Gobert and the Jazz will be proving to Hayward for the rest of this series. The trajectory of this team needs to be in the direction of the Warriors, not parallel to the group of second-tier teams they are currently a part of.

The Warriors are wrestling the torch as the NBA's best back from LeBron James — if they haven't already.

As the benchmark of the NBA for at least the next five years, it's imperative the Jazz are competitive and unearth some hope that this Golden State juggernaut could soon be stopped. Down 2-0, they can't let this series end in Salt Lake City before at least one more visit to Oakland.

It's unlikely to be this series that they overcome Warriors hurdle; it's unlikely to be the next.

A team like no other, nobody knows when the Warriors might finally decline, but for Hayward, he may need to know if his team can be the one that eventually leaps over them.