greenroom31 wrote:Anyone saying Hayward is better than Jaylen is living in the past or imagining some idyllic version of what Hayward is capable of in a single game when healthy.
Hayward may be have a more complete skill set, but he’s declining and way less consistent. Night in night out for a full season I’d go with Jaylen 10 times out of 10 at this point.
or, they know basketball and don't use PPG comparisons without context when declaring someone better than the other. Which of the two can bring the ball up the court, initiate the offense and run PnR? Which one of the two gets parked in the corner and barely handles the ball because his handle and BBIQ are suspect? Which one of the two has mental lapses multiple times a game on defense? Which one has a better than 2:1 assist to turnover rate? Now which one has a negative turnover rate? Hayward does so many things better and is overall a higher skilled player. The fact that Hayward still hasn't regained his pre-injury athleticism (it takes 18-24 mos.) and was still as productive as he was, all while accepting the demotion from #1 option in Utah, to the #2 when he came here to play with Kyrie, to the #4 presently, speaks to his unselfishness, being a team player and that he's an improved player.
Hayward deserves to go somewhere and be the #1 or #2. He is that good. And I think you'd see he'd likely put up even better numbers than his all-star peak which was him just entering his prime. Jaylen's game is predicated on other's getting him the ball for wide open threes. Tatum and Hayward create for themselves and others. Jaylen has tunnel vision and can't create for himself unless it's on a mismatch. But get those mismatches he needs to be involved in the PnR which he can't be because of his lack of handle.
Hayward in his all-star season was ascending as a player. He was headed towards being a 22-6-5 player with efficiency and good defense. How many players in the NBA give you that? Giannis, Kawhi, Lebron, Tatum and Butler. That's it. That's rarified air. You act as if the FACT that Hayward is better than Jaylen, is some slight on Jaylen. What a touchy bunch.