I will ignore Point Guards for a second.
Once we do so, we are left with Harden (potentially an exception-- as he plays very much like a combo guard), Iguodala,Durant, Gay, and Manu.
Durant is simply a top 3 player, and we likely will never have a play of his caliber on this team.
That leaves us with Gay, Iggy, and Manu.
First, lets compare the play of Gordon Hayward, with Manu Ginobili. Id say shooting is a wash, with both players excelling eachother in certain ways statistically.
I would say that they main edge that Manu at this point in his career has OVER Hayward is his assists, or facilitating in general.
However: this is a point where I, along with many other posters here, see as a place where Gordon can, and will improve.
So we essentially have a 2012 Manu upcoming with Hayward.
That leaves us with Gay and Iggy.
Personally, I would rather take Carroll and Foye over a player like Iggy, both in terms of team buildup-chemsitry, offensive-versatility, and cap-relief. But that's just my opinion.
That leaves us with Gay. Personally, I wouldn't ever really want him on this Jazz team.
So in terms of WINGS, that leaves only Harden and Durant as players who are clearly better than our Jazz players. If this is really all we are up against, then Im fine. Not to mention our DEPTH with our wing rotation. OKC is obviously first, and Houston is decent as well (only offensively-- certainly not defensively). Who else has a deeper wing rotation? Two wing players shooting above 40% from 3, Gordon beasting from the bench, and Burks still waiting to explode. Not to mention Carroll's hustle.
The point guard position is an anomaly. We need a good facilitator-- otherwise, we will have to continue to revolve our Jazz offense around Al Jefferson. Right now, we don't have a player that is anywhere near Parker, Harden, or Paul in terms of facilitation, or getting into our sets.
But hey, that seems to be that last piece of the puzzle here (a rather large piece, of course). Once we find it, I could see us resembling a team similar to the Pacers in terms of solidarity with positions 1-5, as well as being competitive with nearly every team in the league, culminating with a top 4 conference seed.
-George
