Monson: In all the waiting for Hayward’s decision, a bit of hope and happiness emerges

Over a span of a few hours following the Jazz's Yalta Conference with star free agent Gordon Hayward at his home in San Diego on Monday afternoon, there was a bit of diversionary relief from all the waiting, the tension for the Jazz and their fans during a game that didn't really matter at the Huntsman Center — getting a first pro glimpse of Donovan Mitchell.

The ridiculously-too-early conclusion to draw: The kid can play.

Against an assemblage of San Antonio Spur wannabes, the Jazz first-round pick went for 23 points and five assists and made it look fairly easy. He was explosive, athletic, accurate, decisive, confident, and for all the world looked like the kind of promising young prospect who actually could contribute to the Jazz in his rookie season. As for his defense, a part of his game he has emphasized in interviews since draft night — Hey, coach, lookit here, I can D up, I do, I can, I will — Mitchell was less than pleased. He said he would study the film, make adjustments, live and learn, and hit the throttle in summer league games yet to come.

Meanwhile, word floated out that the Jazz party sent to Hayward's place included general manager Dennis Lindsey, coach Quin Snyder, team president Steve Starks, players Rudy Gobert, Ricky Rubio, who flew in for the meeting from Spain, Joe Ingles, fresh from the inking of his $52 million deal Saturday, Rodney Hood, and team owner Gail Miller.

That group, presumably, had all the angles covered.

Rubio was there to let Hayward know that he, as the Jazz's new starter at point guard, would ensure that the small forward would get the ball, again and again and again, at the spots where Hayward wants it.

Gobert was there to remind Hayward that there would be no drop-off in competitive fire, that quite to the contrary, the Jazz would push their climb higher and higher in the seasons ahead in unrelenting fashion, that Gobert would continue to get better, handling things at the defensive end, and that Hayward was just scratching his potential as the main cog in the Jazz's attack, the Warriors, the Rockets, the Spurs, and all the rest of the West be damned.

Ingles was there for relationship's sake. Hayward's best friend on the team likely jabbed him in the ribs, pulled a chair out from under him, and laughed at his own jokes at Hayward's expense. He also, without having to come right out and say it, helped the ever-charging forward remember that winning is important and all, but when everything is said and done, it's not just the wins that players look back upon so fondly, it's the friendships that are made, the good times that are had, the laughs that are shared. Who would Hayward laugh with on that other team?

Playing careers are so very short compared with the larger scheme of things, and what good is the whole of them without having fun along the way? Ingles was the man for that, and Hayward knew that Ingles knew that Hayward knew that Ingles knew it.

Snyder was there to show Hayward, once more, the face of the coach under whom he had made more progress than with any other coach at any other time in his days of playing basketball. It wasn't his college years. It was the time in Utah with You-Know-Who providing opportunities for great play.

Miller was there because … of all the people involved with the Jazz, from a player's perspective, from any perspective, who has been kinder, warmer, more supportive, more trustable than Gail Miller? She's said it multiple times, channeling Herm Edwards, who said: "You play to win the game," and that her goal, as much as any other, is to win a championship. "That's why you compete, right?" she's said over and over. She probably said it more than once Monday.

How can Hayward say no to that?

Does he have a heart? Does he have a soul?

Meanwhile, Mitchell was drawing cheers at the Huntsman Center, helping take the minds of thousands of Jazz fans assembled there to a less-stressed-out place. Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens were in the building, too, watching the Celtics summer league entry, with the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, Jayson Tatum, playing the Sixers and the No. 1 pick, which Boston had traded away, Markelle Fultz.

Thing is, Mitchell, at No. 13, looked about as good as anyone.

And that made the building, at least the part of it filled with Jazz fans, feel a little more at ease, a little more optimistic, come what today or tomorrow might bring.

When Gobert and Rubio, along with Raul Neto, walked into the house near the end of the game, the building took a deep breath and applauded. It was the crowd's first chance to greet Rubio as a member of the Jazz.

Nobody yet knows what decision Hayward will settle on. He was impressed, the story goes, by the Jazz's presentation, and after absorbing the Celtics' and the Heat's pitches, he is said to be genuinely torn. That report didn't calm anyone's nerves.

But Mitchell's play did, at least for an hour or two.

Tuesday frayed those nerves again and so will Wednesday, if it stretches out that long. No matter what comes thereafter, everybody around here will hope that this new rook Mitchell will be as good as he looked Monday night. It may be far too soon, far too stupid to dream of it, but everybody had similarly ridiculous hopes seven years ago, when a fresh-faced, shaggy-haired kid named Hayward was just getting started.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.