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SALT LAKE CITY — If the intangibles defined by a Utah Jazz executive are the significant deciding factors, then Tyler Haws can bank on a long and lucrative NBA career.
BYU’s all-time leading scorer was a prolific offensive player but offered little in the way of defense or other aspects of the game. After Haws worked out with the Jazz, vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin was asked to assess the four-year college star’s chances at making the NBA.
“It depends on what Tyler has right in his heart in terms of desire, dedication, determination, basketball IQ (and) whether or not he would be a good defender,” Perrin said.
Haws checks out off the charts with the 3-D qualities of desire, dedication and determination. And he showed through succeeding against numerous defenses, his basketball IQ isn’t too shabby, either. The good defender part is another story, one that will likely keep Haws from getting drafted later this month and not on an NBA roster come October.
But it’s silly to count him out yet, especially before getting a legitimate opportunity. If confidence matters, Haws just might make it.
“I feel like I had a great college career,” he said, “but I feel like I’m ready for this next step.”
Along the way to scoring a total of 2,720 points, Haws was brilliant at getting off mid-range jump shots. After playing a secondary role during Jimmer Fredette’s junior year, Haws served a church mission and then took dead aim at the program’s scoring record as a sophomore during the 2012-13 season.
It depends on what Tyler has right in his heart in terms of desire, dedication, determination, basketball IQ (and) whether or not he would be a good defender.
–Walt Perrin
Over his final three seasons, Haws averaged 22.3 points and never shot below 46 percent from the field. The trick now is to extend his range to the deeper NBA 3-point line.
“I’m trying to prove that I can score from the 3-point line,” he said. “My game’s kind of the mid-range game. But I’m a scorer and I believe I can help any team score, and I’m trying to prove that.”
Perrin didn’t think Haws would have trouble adjusting to the NBA 3-point distance. Other teams that bring him in for workouts probably will have a similar opinion.
But individual shooting drills and the 3-on-3 scrimmages that normally make up the predraft team workouts aren’t the same as NBA games. The ability to shoot the ball doesn’t necessarily equate to making field goals against NBA defenses, as Fredette has painfully learned during his four years in the league.
For all of his great performances as a senior — he scored at least 20 points in 24 games — Haws usually struggled against good competition. In the seven games, including three against Gonzaga, BYU played against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament, Haws shot 41 percent from the field.
His best game came in the tournament against Ole Miss in which Haws scored 33 points on 13 of 23 shooting, but neither team played much defense in the game that BYU lost 94-90. In games against San Diego State, Purdue, Gonzaga and Utah, Haws shot 39 percent from the field.
Haws also has to fight the stigma of being a four-year college player, which is a rarity for incoming NBA draft hopefuls. At 24 years old, he is more than four years older than Jazz point guard Dante Exum.
Given his limitations, Haws could be destined to play overseas, as his father, Marty, did after an outstanding career at BYU. Even still, he lived out a dream in college and now has a chance to see more of the world and get paid to play basketball in different countries.
"In the next five or 10 years he'll end up with a lot of money in the bank," said former BYU star Travis Hansen, who played in Europe for several years.
All in all, not a bad outcome.
