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.
PBT profiled Hayward before the NCAA Tournament, including talking to DraftExpress.com’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.