Gordon Hayward to the Heat? Why that wouldn’t make much sense for him

The Utah Jazz are now worried about a second team potentially prying unrestricted All-Star free agent Gordon Hayward from them this summer. It isn’t just the Boston Celtics vying for the veteran swingman’s services. Now the Miami Heat have entered the picture, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.

The Heat finished the regular season ninth in the Eastern Conference after an incredible late-season push featured a 13-game winning streak and wins in 30 of their last 41 games.

A 27-year-old two-way wing, Hayward earned the first All-Star nod of his career this season after averaging a career-best 22 points per game on 40 percent shooting from three. He was the superstar on a Jazz team that claimed the fifth seed in the West, making its first playoff appearance since the Jerry Sloan era.

Hayward is expected to decline the player option on the final season of his contract and enter unrestricted free agency. The Jazz can offer him a five-year deal at 30 percent of the salary cap. All other teams can offer Hayward only four-year max deals.

The Heat were only a Pacers or Bulls loss away from making the playoffs after starting the season 11-30. Miami went on a miraculous run with Dion Waiters as its premier scorer and with a cast of reserve players that head coach Erik Spoelstra turned into solid pieces as the season went on.

Imagine what would happen if they had a true All-Star. Putting Hayward alongside Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside would create a legitimate Big 3 in Miami once again.

Hayward could enjoy his off time on the shores of South Beach, counting the money he saves by the absence of state taxes in Florida. In the Pat Riley era, Miami has always attracted the league’s biggest stars. It’s a championship culture that trickles from the top down — and one Hayward would thrive in as the head of the Heat snake.

If Hayward is going to leave Utah, it’s going to be for a team that has a legitimate path to contending for a championship. Even if he joins the Heat, it’s unclear if that team can beat the Raptors or Celtics, let alone the Cavaliers, in a seven-game series.

Hayward would also be leaving a lot of money on the table. His five-year max deal with Utah would come in at around $177.5 million, based on current cap estimates. A four-year deal with any other team maxes out at about $131.6 million. Both contracts are a raise from the final year of his current deal, scheduled to pay out $16.7 million should he opt in.

But leaving almost $50 million on the table to join a team whose best-case scenario was eighth seed is a head scratcher.

When you combine the storied history of the Celtics franchise, the stockpile of assets president Danny Ainge has hoarded over the years, and the chance to reunite with former coach Brad Stevens, Boston is the most attractive free-agent destination for Hayward this summer. If Hayward was a bet to leave his already successful Jazz team for elsewhere, Boston remains a bigger threat than Miami.

The Heat are one All-Star player away from returning to the playoff hunt, but they’re an all-time great away from contending for a championship. Hayward is an exceptional player, but Miami needs more than his services to compete with the East’s top dogs.

Undoubtedly, you can’t deny Riley’s influence. The Heat nearly made the playoffs with a group of players other teams didn’t want. But adding Hayward to the mix may not be enough to put Miami over the hump either.

It wouldn’t make much sense to leave money on the table without a clear path to at least the conference finals. Hayward gets that chance to win big in Boston, not in Miami.