Hayward finishes draft workouts in hometown

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

Gordon Hayward felt right at home auditioning for Larry Bird and the Indiana Pacers.

After traveling to 10 cities, Hayward woke up at his parents’ place in nearby Brownsburg, hopped in his own car and made the 20-minute drive to Conseco Fieldhouse.

He’s hoping his first job comes the same short commute.

“It would be a dream come true to play for the Pacers,” Hayward said Monday. “I’d be close to home, close to my friends and family. Sometimes people say it would be more pressure, but I don’t see that as a negative.”

Certainly not when virtually every big moment in Hayward’s basketball career has occurred within these city limits.

Two years ago, his buzzer-beating lay-in gave Brownsburg High School the 4A state basketball title in the same building where he worked out for Bird. He brought home the Horizon League’s freshman of the year and player of the year awards over the last two seasons while attending school just six miles down the road at Butler. In April, Hayward had two chances in the closing seconds to beat Duke in the national title game at Lucas Oil Stadium, within walking distance of Conseco. But he missed both shots.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore is making one exception Thursday night.

Hayward will take his parents, his girlfriend, his sister and her boyfriend to New York City for the NBA draft. Most experts expect him to go in the top 20, and some have him projected to go as high as No. 8.

“You know I only had one suit because I was growing so fast, and that was for my senior picture,” he said. “So I do need to get one, but I think the agency is taking care of that. I hope they’re taking care of that.”

The biggest questions heading into the draft were whether Hayward was strong enough or a good enough outside shooter to play in the NBA.

On Monday, Hayward showed up with a more defined upper body, something he attributed to the strength and conditioning program he went through at St.Vincent Sports Performance on Indy’s west side.

The Pacers also got a firsthand look at how much better Hayward’s shooting touch could be after seeing his 3-point percentage drop from 44.8 percent in his freshman season to 29.4 percent last year.

Which leaves only one question for Thursday: How high will Hayward go?

Indiana holds the No. 10 pick, and if he’s there, local fans will be pulling hard for Hayward, even though the Pacers have greater needs at point guard and power forward.

“I’ll be happy to go with whoever takes me,” he said. “For me, this has been a dream of mine to play at this level, and once I decided to come out I never looked back.”