July 10, 2014 – Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced today that the team has extended an offer sheet to restricted free-agent forward Gordon Hayward. Per team policy, terms were not disclosed. In accordance with the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Hayward’s current team, the Utah Jazz, will have three days to match the offer.
The 6-8 Hayward saw action in 77 games for the Jazz last year, averaging career highs of 16.2 points, 5.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 36.4 minutes. He led the team in scoring and minutes played, ranked second in assists and was tied for third in rebounds. In his fourth NBA season, Hayward posted career highs in nearly every statistical category, including games played (77), minutes (2800), points (1248), field goals (426), field goal attempts (1032), free throws (311), free throw attempts (381), total rebounds (391), offensive rebounds (62), defensive rebounds (329), assists (400) and steals (110).
Hayward scored in double figures 63 times, grabbed double-figure rebounds in seven games and handed out double-figure assists on six occasions, tallying nine double-doubles. He also recorded single-game career highs of 37 points (Jan. 7 vs. Oklahoma City), 13 rebounds (Dec. 13 at Denver) and 12 assists (Nov. 25 vs. Chicago) during the 2013-14 season.
The ninth overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, Hayward has played in 287 games during his four-year career, all with the Jazz. He has career averages of 12.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 28.4 minutes, with shooting percentages of .436 from the field (1171-2684), .365 from beyond the three-point line (277-759) and .813 from the free-throw line (816-1004). He has scored in double figures 174 times, including 45 games of 20 points or more and four games of 30 points or more.