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The Jazz lost to Toronto in their final game before a brief Christmas break, but Gordon Hayward did not appear defeated.

Wearing an untucked flannel shirt and old-style tennis shoes Friday, Hayward was the last player to leave Vivint Smart Home Arena. He stopped and chatted with people in the hallway, in no hurry to get home, with a couple of days off and an opportunity to "try to re-energize your mind," as he had said in the mostly empty locker room.

In late September, I introduced the Hayward Happiness Index as the framework of this Jazz season — and the franchise's future. His level of satisfaction with the team's improvement largely would determine whether Hayward will want to stay beyond next summer, when he can become a free agent. So we all would parse Hayward's interview transcripts, observe his facial expressions and, yes, document his game-day wardrobe selections (is this is the attire of a guy who will stay in Utah, just for the sake of more money that NBA rules enable the Jazz to offer him)?

Well, where are we, three months later?

Wow. It is complicated.

Hayward has established himself as a top-10 player in franchise history in my mind, becoming even more valuable to the Jazz right now and in the future. Yet unless the Jazz can get healthy, move into the middle of the Western Conference playoff picture and play into the middle of May, Hayward would be forgiven for wanting to move somewhere that would give him a better opportunity to win. He would have my endorsement, anyway, having done all he could to lift a team whose rebuilding project seemingly is cursed.

After that 104-98 loss to Toronto, with point guard Kyle Lowry having scorched the Jazz with 36 points, Hayward said he was "proud of the effort … under the circumstances."

That's the three-word qualifier of every Jazz analysis, right? Who knows what this team can become, when it is wholly functional — or whether that will ever happen?

Hayward credited fill-in players for doing a "tremendous job," adding, "You can't replace the [missing] guys, though. A healthy George Hill would have been really good for us."

And for Hayward himself. The Jazz (18-13) are 5-0 with Hayward and Hill in the lineup. Think about that: Those two guys have played together for five games in the first two months of the season.

The Jazz have played through a series of injuries, including the broken finger that caused Hayward to miss the first six games (and another game, later). His teammates' extended absences have made him deal with "some psychological challenges when you don't have a lot of help," coach Quin Snyder said.

Hayward has persevered, averaging a career-best 22.0 points. He has kept the Jazz solidly inside the playoff cut, although they're only No. 7 in the West as the schedule resumes Tuesday against the Lakers in Los Angeles. The team's biggest developments include Rudy Gobert becoming a much better player than I witnessed in the Olympics last summer, the Jazz remaining a strong road team but only an average home club under Snyder and Hayward responding well to everything he's being asked to do.

"He's a star player … he's doing a good job of dealing with it," said Jazz guard Shelvin Mack, his former Butler University teammate.

Ah, Butler. Brad Stevens, their college coach, now leads the Boston Celtics, making that team a logical landing spot for Hayward. The Celtics also stand 18-13, but they've played only 12 home games and have the advantage of living in the East, the NBA's weaker conference. As Hayward watches from afar, Boston's prosperity has to affect the Hayward Happiness Index in Utah.

My threshold is low for judging this Jazz season. Considering the franchise's last victory in the playoffs came in 2010, I will declare the year a success if Jazz win a postseason game. Not a series, just a game.

Hayward's standards, undoubtedly, are higher.

Twitter: @tribkurt