Jazz match $63 million offer sheet for Gordon Hayward

The Utah Jazz are set to match the four-year, $63 million offer sheet the Charlotte Hornets extended to shooting guard Gordon Hayward, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Utah drafted Hayward with the No. 9 pick in 2010 and was not ready to lose the 24-year-old just yet.

Hayward averaged 16.2 points, 5.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds in his fourth year in Utah last season. He reportedly turned down a four-year, $40 million extension a year ago, and the bet paid off. He’ll be paired with returning veterans Trey Burke, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Alec Burks to give Utah a promising young nucleus that hasn’t started winning together just yet. The Jazz also added Dante Exum and Rodney Hood in the draft.

If Utah waits the full three days before matching, much of Charlotte’s cap space remains tied up with Hayward and they could miss out on other targets.

Hayward received the max offer sheet despite struggling a bit in a feature role with the Jazz last season. The 24-year-old averaged 16.2 points and 5.2 assists, but he shot a career-worst 41.3 percent overall and 30.4 percent from three.

And they should, because what other choice do they really have?

That doesn’t mean Hayward is a bad player. It just means that, barring a leap that’s possible given that he’s still just 23 years old, he’s currently best filling in gaps around other good players.

Hayward averaged 16.2 points, 5.1 rebouns and 5.2 assists per game in 77 games with the Jazz in 2013-2014, his fourth season in the NBA out of Butler. He struggled with taking on a larger role on a rebuilding Jazz club, but Utah has plenty of salary-cap flexibility and may not be able to afford taking a larger step back, even with 2013 and 2014 first-round picks Trey Burke and Dante Exum in the backcourt.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports Hayward will be looking at a max deal, meaning his contract could start off in the $15 million-per-year range.

It’s not surprising Cleveland is attempting to make a splash in free agency, but this is the first indication Hayward was one of its targets. What are the chances the Cavs can sign him away from Utah?