Skip to content

Butler's Gordon Hayward realizes his stock is hot, enters NBA draft

Apr 14, 2010, 7:12 PM EST

Sell high. Strike when the iron’s hot. There are about 245,000 other clichés I can put here about taking advantage of an opportunity.

Butler’s Gordon Hayward understands that, and understands that after Butler’s run and near NCAA title, he’s never going to be a hotter commodity. So he is entering the NBA draft, the Indianapolis Star confirmed.

“I have decided to declare for this June’s NBA draft,” Hayward said in a statement released by the school. “At the present time, I have not signed with an agent. I’m looking forward to further exploring my options in the NBA, while finishing this semester strongly in the classroom.”

PBT profiled Hayward before the NCAA Tournament, including talking to’s Assistant Director of Scouting Joe Treutlein, who gave us these comments

Gordon Hayward is an interesting guy in the late first round, and could provide huge value to a team with a system his skills are well suited for. Hayward has a very high basketball IQ, is a deceptively good athlete, and has outstanding shooting mechanics with NBA three-point range. His percentages from three have fallen off considerably this season (down from 45% to 30%), but he’s still near elite from the free throw line (84%) and there’s little reason to believe his shot won’t come around eventually. He’s also a surprisingly good finisher around the basket, due primarily to excellent body control and coordination. Hayward’s biggest problem will be defensively, where his lateral quickness is subpar for a SF, but not worse than players like Danilo Gallinari or Hedo Turkoglu.”

Multiple mock drafts have him being drafted from the high teens through the end of the first round.

Featured video

Who will land Josh Smith?
Top 10 NBA Player Searches
  1. K. Durant (8555)
  2. K. Bryant (7830)
  3. J. Smith (7241)
  4. K. Martin (6941)
  5. K. Leonard (6559)
  1. C. Bosh (6504)
  2. Z. Randolph (6159)
  3. T. Jones (5877)
  4. T. Parker (5779)
  5. D. DeRozan (5744)