I e-mailed Luke Winn after reading this article (http://sportsillustrated....6/18/hayward/index.html) because he
explained Hayward could be the first Butler player taken since Ralph O'Brien (56 years ago). It's a great article, but I said I thought it was jumping
the gun a little to mention Hayward as an NBA draft pick (let alone a first-rounder). I know scouts said he was really "impressive," but scouts see a
crap ton of "impressive" players. If Mike Green, clearly one of the most NBA-ready Butler players in a looong time, couldn't get drafted (but did
work out for the Cavs' Vegas team), Gordon will really have to do some work and hit the gym.
Winn actually responded to me, and here's what he had to say. It's a very interesting perspective:
"Thanks for the note. I know the NBA thing seems weird -- especially since Green and Graves never even had a shot at the league -- but Hayward really is in a different category from those players. I'm usually hesitant to push the draft angle because I don't want to mislead anyone, but my info here came from scouts sitting at the U.S. trials. All of them said Hayward is a legit prospect -- maybe not a lottery prospect, but a legit first-round prospect down the road. I'm pretty sure DraftExpress plans to put him in the first round of its 2011 mock, whenever it debuts. I think Hayward can be a similar prospect to Ryan Anderson, who went No. 21 to the Nets in 2008."
Winn actually responded to me, and here's what he had to say. It's a very interesting perspective:
"Thanks for the note. I know the NBA thing seems weird -- especially since Green and Graves never even had a shot at the league -- but Hayward really is in a different category from those players. I'm usually hesitant to push the draft angle because I don't want to mislead anyone, but my info here came from scouts sitting at the U.S. trials. All of them said Hayward is a legit prospect -- maybe not a lottery prospect, but a legit first-round prospect down the road. I'm pretty sure DraftExpress plans to put him in the first round of its 2011 mock, whenever it debuts. I think Hayward can be a similar prospect to Ryan Anderson, who went No. 21 to the Nets in 2008."
