I don't understand the infatuation with Hayward. He's not better than Crowder. Why are we obsessed with filling a spot that we aready have a top 10 player in?
In terms of Real Plus Minus top 10 small forwards are currently:
1. Lebron James
2. Jimmy Butler
3. Kevin Durant
4. Kawhi Leonard
5. Giannis
6. Otto Porter Jr.
7. Jae Crowder
8. Gordon Hayward
9. Trevor Ariza
10. Robert Covington
A lot of people will argue that Paul George should be on this list, but he's not playing defense at an above average level this year and came in 12th in real plus minus among small forwards.
This is a pretty thin argument with Crowder and Hayward being 7 and 8 on the list, what are the numbers? Is it a + 2,3, or 5? Or is it a +.5 or 1 in favor of Crowder?
Also according to the list Butler is a better SF than Durant and Leonard. Crowder is a nice player, but Hayward is more complete,he can play PG, guards better than people give him credit for, and can create his own shot, which is where he really separates himself from Crowder, and something the C's really need.
Also Hayward can start at SG, and Crowder can start at SF.
Actually what I think we should do if we sign Hayward is this. Move on from Amir and Start...
Horford
Crowder
Hayward
Bradley
Thomas
This way Crowder and Bradley get to keep their starting role. Smart is the ultimate Swiss army knife off the bench.
Brown can fill in minutes at the two, three, and four. Plus we are adding, Fultz, Ball, Jackson, Tatum.
That 8 man rotation is insane. Plus Zizic, Yabu, Rozier. Gotta love that team.
Unfortunately that rotation would probably be too small. I would try and move Bradley for a starting PF or go after Ibaka or Gibson.
PG: IT
SG: Hayward
SF: Crowder
PF: Gibson
C: Horford
You play that with Fultz and Brown and bring in the overseas bigs and you got yourself a dangerous team.
Yeah, a Crowder-Horford front court is problematic, way too small. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Jazz winning 50 games in the west despite their best player (Hayward) being worse than Jae Crowder. Hayward's simple rating is like 2.5x Crowder's, which is just as good of, if not better statistic than RPM. Small forwards by simple rating go:
1. LeBron 17.4
2. Durant 17.2
3. Kawhi 14.5
4. Butler 13.8
5. Giannis 12.9
6. Hayward 12.1
7. Paul George 7.0
8. Crowder 4.8
9. Porter 4.8
10. Ariza 1.7
Not perfect, but this makes a lot more sense to me (especially considering the deviation) than the list using RPM.
Your simple rating lists Hayward as being twice as effective as Paul George. That is a farce.
Yet more realistic than RPM which lists Otto Porter as nearly 2x effective as Paul George.
To my understanding, they measure different things. Doesnt your simple rating measure production, while RPM measures on/off impact?
Either way, rpm isn't flawless either
But fact is that Crowder's team has the 5Th best record in the NBA, and i wouldnt day that Crowder's supporting roster is necessarily any better.
Thomas rose up from being a Hayward caliber player tp being a true superstar, which had boosted the Celtics to the record we have today. Hayward is supposed to be the Isaiah Thomas of the Jazz, yet hes not close to Thomas' production and his team's record isnt close to Boston's.
With Derrick Favors, Rodney Hood, Rudy Gobert and George Hill on the roster, the Jazz overall talent set is at least as high as Boston's. They should be better then they are.