Burks at #12

[Gyp Rosetti]

Lebron: 6'7.25" without shoes, wingspan of 7'0.25", standing reach of 8'10.25"
Hayward: 6'6.75" without shoes, wingspan of 6'7.75", standing reach of 8'7"

Lebron's wingspan is 4.5 inches greater and his standing reach is 3.25 inches greater. Add in the fact that James' measurements were taken right out of high school and he could have grown a tiny bit since then AND that he's athletically superior to Hayward in every way and he has great advantage if Hayward is set to defend him as a small forward. Typically young wings are quite green as rookies. Hayward should start at the 2 this year but perhaps Burks will develop and supplant him, thus shifting Hayward to the 3 or as a 6th man, or even develop to the point that he becomes our point guard as has been suggested. With guys like Westbrook and Rose nowadays, that would be my preference.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Why are we comparing Hayward to one of the best SF's ever?

 

[northeast]

because some people are arguing that 6-8 is too small to play SF.
Because I keep hearing that Hayward at 6-8 is pegged at SG and not SF.

DeShawn Stevenson was able to guard LeBron quite effectively to help his team beat Miami in the finals.
Hayward is bigger than DeShawn.

I'd like the Jazz to find one guy to play a Jason Terry role. Dallas and Miami were the top two team in the league this year. Neither of them got there with an entire team of guys 6-6 and up. Both would not have got there without big contributions from guards that are not that tall.

 

[NUMBERICA]

We only have to concern ourselves with Lebron if the Jazz are in the finals anyway, and he didn't know how to handle being guarded by Jason Kidd and JJ Barea when it was all said and done. Lebron can beat anyone in the NBA physically, but you can get inside his head.

 

[Zerol]

Burks is actually 6'5" without shoes, so he would be closer to 6'7" with proper sneakers on.

 

[The-Joker]

Why are we comparing Hayward to one of the best SF's ever?

You could say the same thing about Lebron...

but in all serious, you don't need a tremendous amount of bulk to play SF effectively on D... PF, sure... but length counts for a great deal and Hayward has it. If lebron wants to post Hayward up, switch to a zone and see how he likes the Georgian twins on him. Defense is a mindset, not an attribute.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Saw this report on Burks posted on another board. Seems pretty accurate.

https://www.pacersdigest.com/wordpress/?p=482

The guy I'd like to see Burks evolve into would be a young Penny Hardaway, but I'm sure that's too much to ask.

 

[Ben10]

because some people are arguing that 6-8 is too small to play SF.
Because I keep hearing that Hayward at 6-8 is pegged at SG and not SF.

It has nothing to do with how tall he is. Its about his weight and strength, He isn't strong enough to keep a guy from pushing him around to get good position or to be able to mussel him out of the way. Same way Deron did with smaller PG's. Lebron, Carmello just have there way with Hayward due to weight and strength differential. As a SG Hayward is quick enough and long enough to stay in front of them. Most SG don't have the Size and strength together to be able to dominate him like SF do.

 

[northeast]

(a) I think Hayward is stronger than you think.
(b) I've seen lots of thin SFs.
(c) The refs aren't supposed to let players win by just pushing people around, that's supposed to be a foul

 

[northeast]

(d) He's going to add weight, if he hasn't already.

 

[Ben10]

(a) I think Hayward is stronger than you think.
(b) I've seen lots of thin SFs.
(c) The refs aren't supposed to let players win by just pushing people around, that's supposed to be a foul
(d) He's going to add weight, if he hasn't already.

a) I think Hayward is strong. But I also watched Carmello and Lebron throw him around and saw him pick up 2 really quick fouls while guarding them.
b) But there are more short SG's that he can shoot over and has better length to cover
c) This is the NBA we are talking about. When do Lebron or Carmello ever not get the call to go there way?
d) I agree that there is a good chance he adds weight and well be very effective guarding a 3. But he is never going to be 260 like Bron or Melo and still have the quickness he has right now. Hayward has an advantage playing against SG's on both offense and defense due to his height and quickness. Those advantages go away against SF's. The reason to play him at SG is because he causes miss matches that he doesn't cause playing against SF's

 

[billyshelby]

Whatever anyone thinks about Hayward's ability to play D is based on watching him play 3's. So I don't know how anyone has figured out he can absolutely guard 2's.