Utah Jazz Gordon Hayward and Dante Exum impressing, but it's early - Downbeat 1462

Gordon Hayward has been on a tear. He looks like a max player. Now we know why Michael Jordan threw the everything but the Hornet's Nest's sink at Gordon. Gordon was poised for a breakout year. Look at this year by year comparison. (via www.basketball-reference.com)

Gordon Hayward has actually taken 36 free throws this year (4.5 per game) and he has only missed one. ONE. First of all, NBA2K WHY DOES HAYWARD HAVE A WORSE FREE THROW PERCENTAGE THAN TREY BURKE? Second, Gordon Hayward is becoming automatic from the free throw line. Which is one reason why his scoring is up this year. The other reason he's become OMFG VANILLA COBRA!!! is he's getting to the rack more. Shooting above 50% from the field. The closer Hayward gets to the ungodly 50-40-90 club the better the Jazz will be.

Remember when we all thought that the Jazz had a glut of amazing point guards in the offseason? Burke, Exum, and Neto? How in the world did the Utah Jazz get so lucky??? Well ... fast forward to now.

Here are Trey Burke's numbers:

HIDE YOUR EYES. HIDE YOUR EYES. As many have pointed out in SLCDunk threads, Trey isn't leading the Jazz in FGAs. And he's been behind Favors and Hayward the last 5 games in FGAs. BUT HE SHOULD ALWAYS BE BEHIND HAYWARD AND FAVORS. When we are counting it a victory that Trey shot fewer attempts than the two best players on this team it's game over. Done. Down goes Frazier. In no way, shape, or form should Trey have this many attempts. In addition, Trey is actually costing the Utah Jazz offense wins. His -0.3 offensive win shares is terrible.

Of all nights, Trey should have been able to burst out against Donald Sloan and AJ Price. AJ Price.

Oh you thought I was just going to throw Burke under the bus. EXUM COME ON DOWN. This part is going to pain me because I'm fully aboard the Exum express.

AVERT YOUR EYES PEOPLE. The hard part about the point guard situation is Dante Exum 's numbers were expected. He's raw. Last year he was playing high schoolers. He took time off from basketball. Burke? Burke was playing NBA guys last year. He had a full offseason and was able to prepare for this opportunity.

Exum still is lost on the defensive end. His length sometimes allows him to make up for his mental lapses, but he still is lacking. Offensively his shooting is below 50% and barely 30% from three (though compared to Trey's shooting that's All-Star caliber). But still neither of these point guards are playing at starter level.

In business talk, the amount of time the Jazz are trying to invest in Exum and Burke might be cannibalizing their progression. They both play the same position. AND NO I DON'T BELIEVE FOR ONE MOMENT THAT EXUM IS A SHOOTING GUARD. What the Jazz are trying to do with Exum at Shooting Guard is like what the Jazz did to Burks in reverse. Because of the minutes Exum demands it takes away from Burke and vice versa. Because they are both at the same talent level neither one can gain their footing. They both can't add value to the team currently because they don't know their role. We can coach speak it all we want that they're "basketball players" but without clearly defined roles they will suffer from cannibalization because they are both vying for the same target market thus reducing their value to the team.

Exum evidently has some Aussie flow going on when Joe Ingles is on the court at the same time. Ingles is to Exum as Evans was to Hayward.

Check out Dante Exum’s performance with and without Joe Ingles. Margin mostly rooted in other factors, but still: pic.twitter.com/wwxvVSjkDv

— Rob Mahoney (@RobMahoney) November 11, 2014

What do you guys think? Is Zach Lowe right?

Trey Burke shot 38% last season, now 23-of-70 so far this season. He's young, but we're not far from the point where this is a problem.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) November 9, 2014