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Gordon Hayward helped make Utah attractive to veteran Joe Johnson in free agency last summer. He's a symbol of the Jazz's ability to develop players. He's already being credited for motivating teammate Dante Exum in a workout regimen this summer.

That's a nice legacy for Hayward around here, if he needs one.

NBA free agency starts July 1, and the Jazz will be trying to complement Hayward and keep building their roster. "We're very anxious to tell our story," said general manager Dennis Lindsey. "We anticipate a very good and interested audience."

The Jazz's story will sell itself only if Hayward is still a main character in it, though, and that's where this stuff gets tricky. The ideal solution? Hayward soon chooses to re-sign with the Jazz, then joins Rudy Gobert in the team's pitch to a point guard — whether that's George Hill or someone else — and the franchise's ascent continues.

When is it ever that easy, though?

The reality is Hayward's value to the Jazz goes beyond his own ability. Hayward, Gobert and coach Quin Snyder are the Jazz's biggest selling points for other players, but the outlook would be altered drastically without Hayward.

This is a summer of alterations, with fan-motivated renovation of Vivint Smart Home Arena and player-driven remodeling of Zions Bank Basketball Center. The major overhauling needs to stop there. Rebuilding the Jazz without Hayward is overwhelming.

That's why there's no downplaying the magnitude of Hayward's decision, with free agency rules giving the Jazz some advantages in contract length and dollars. No other Jazz development in this century has rivaled the level of anticipation about what he'll do, in fans' minds. John Stockton's retirement and Karl Malone's move to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2003 were different, because that Jazz era had played itself out. The current Jazz are building something, and it either could keep developing or fall apart.

With the ability to absorb incoming salaries prior to July 1, the Jazz undoubtedly tried to trade for a veteran point guard in discussions surrounding Thursday's draft, and will keep pursuing that angle. That would reduce their worries in free agency, although the issue no longer is the Jazz's needing to impress Hayward. They're beyond that stage.

Other than beating Golden State in the playoffs, they've done just about all they could in the past 12 months to upgrade the roster, improve Hayward's game with Snyder's coaching and convince him of a promising future. It's Hayward's turn now. The impression he makes around the league by staying with the Jazz will go a long way toward helping them get even better.

Johnson's example from last summer is encouraging, how the veteran forward looked at an improving team with rising stars in Hayward and Gobert and discovered a good fit for himself in Snyder's system. Lindsey framed the Jazz's attractions as "Gordon and the big fella and the culture and us defending, trying to play serious basketball, adult basketball."

Lindsey added, "I'm not saying we set the world on fire last year, but we like what we did via free agency and via trade."

The Jazz helped themselves by signing Johnson and trading for Hill and Boris Diaw. They can make similar improvement this summer, but they're in danger of regressing.

If Hayward ends up going elsewhere, everything could crumble. The Jazz would find themselves needing to replace him in free agency, while assembling other parts. Somebody would take their money, but landing a player of Hayward's talent and matching the way he fits into the franchise and community would be asking way too much.

The Jazz may have succeeded in duplicating Carlos Boozer with Al Jefferson in 2010, but that's hardly going to happen with Hayward. And his influence would be lost.

Lindsey, who worked with legendary players in Houston and San Antonio, still marvels about Hayward's drive to improve last summer, and how that example has affected Exum and Rodney Hood. "Believe me, it's become biblical for us," Lindsey said. "I've seen a lot of great summers, but I've never seen a better summer, how about that? You're talking about some Hall of Fame players."

Hayward is not even an All-NBA player, technically. But he proved his value in the 2017 playoffs, the only problem being that he made himself even more indispensable to the Jazz.

Personally, I'm sticking to my belief that Hayward will stay, with the same disclaimer: I would never underestimate the pull of his relationship with Boston's Brad Stevens, his college coach, and I could live with that choice. Any other landing spot is unacceptable and illogical.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt