Rudy Gobert to Ask Gordon Hayward If He Wants to Win Title in Free-Agency Pitch

Gordon Hayward is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he declines his $16.7 million player option for the 2017-18 season, and Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is already prepping for the possibility that he'll have to pitch the swingman on staying. 

Speaking to HoopsHype's Alex Kennedy, Gobert disclosed that he'll try to sway Hayward by focusing on the team's ability to contend for a title in the near future. 

"I’m just going to ask him, 'Do you want to win a championship?'" Gobert said, per Kennedy. "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."

That pitch should appeal to Hayward, who has previously indicated his No. 1 priority is to play for a team that can contend for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. 

"It comes down to where I can compete for a title," he told ESPN.com's Zach Lowe in December. "Where I live—that doesn't affect me. The limelight doesn't matter to me. I just want to make a run at it."

However, Utah may need to show some spunk in the postseason for Hayward to be convinced the Jazz are ready to compete with the Western Conference's best. 

This year, that likely means fending off the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round before giving the Golden State Warriors a run for their money in the conference semifinals. 

But if the Jazz come up short, it's likely the eyes of competing teams will grow wide with a chance to pitch Hayward on a brighter future elsewhere. 

"Almost everyone with max-level cap room will at least call Hayward's agent," Lowe wrote. "His beloved college coach works in Boston. The Clippers explored a sign-and-trade for Hayward in the summer of 2014, when he was a restricted free agent, per several league sources; Doc Rivers loves him."

Hayward could be enticed to stay in Utah because the Jazz's grind-it-out nature has made them one of the toughest night-to-night matchups the NBA has to offer. That said, cracking the league's top tier of title contenders could require patience. 

And if the 27-year-old Hayward isn't intent on playing the waiting game as the Jazz make the climb toward the top of their developmental parabola, a more championship-ready roster could prove more compelling when free agency opens on July 1. 

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