SALT LAKE CITY — If you’ve driven in Salt Lake City recently, you’ve likely seen one of the many “Stayward” billboards lining the Utah roads. With little more than MVP chants, social media outreach and the ambitious billboard campaign, Jazz fans’ hands are tied when it comes to Gordan Hayward’s future.

If the newly minted All-Star wants to sign with the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat or any other NBA team on July 1, he’s free to leave, and there’s nothing the Jazz, or anyone else in the state of Utah, can do about it.

But that’s not until July, and until then, the Jazz have roughly one month, and really, one evening, to prove he should stay. That day comes on June 22 in the form of the NBA draft.

On draft night, the Jazz are free to trade any existing players on their roster, plus current and future draft picks in order to build their roster.

In this year’s draft, the Jazz own the 24th and 30th selections in the first round. In the second round, the Jazz own the 42nd and 55th overall picks. It’s a high number of picks for what is billed as one of the deeper drafts in recent NBA history, and will ensure a busy night for the Jazz front office.

While the Jazz will stick to the adage of drafting the best player available with every pick, they must also consider what each move may do to impact the decision of Hayward. Simply adding four first-year players likely won’t be enough to sway Hayward to stay in Utah, considering the Celtics, viewed as the Jazz's top competition for Hayward’s services, have the No. 1 overall pick.

Last summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder had the looming free agency of superstar Kevin Durant hanging over their heads, and on draft night, they decided to be proactive in their approach to building their roster. The Thunder traded proven veteran Serge Ibaka for the 11th pick in the draft (Domantas Sabonis), along with Ersan Ilyasova and veteran wing Victor Oladipo from the Orlando Magic.

By doing this, the Thunder made a play to keep Durant, adding an additional defensive wing player, an extra shooter, while also getting younger by adding Sabonis. And though the plan failed to keep Durant in Oklahoma City, they set up their roster for another playoff run this year by adding supporting pieces around proven star Russell Westbrook. The Thunder avoided a total rebuild by aggressively reshaping their roster on draft night.

Fans should expect the Jazz to explore similar options in this year’s draft.

Theoretically, the Jazz could make all four picks with an eye on keeping Hayward in Utah. The team could select more NBA ready players in the form of college upperclassmen, and hope one of them steps in as an immediate contributor.

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This was the case with the Milwaukee Bucks' Malcolm Brogdon, who was selected in the second round of last year’s draft and is now one of three finalists in this year’s Rookie of the Year race.

Candidates for that type of draft pick are Kansas State’s Wesley Iwundu, Clemson’s Jaron Blossomgame and Villanova’s Josh Hart. All three are wings who could step in and potentially relieve some of the heavy defensive load carried by Hayward in the regular season.

However, the Jazz won’t know what they have in these selections until well after free agency has opened, and Hayward could be gone before any of these draft picks has a chance to prove their value. If Hayward does leave, it’s unlikely any of these players have the upside to replace his production, and the Jazz could be left with good, not great, players with low upside on a rebuilding roster.

The Jazz could look to package their picks, including future first-round picks, in order to move up to get one of the more highly touted prospects in the first round. By targeting one specific player, the Jazz could ensure that whether Hayward stays or goes, they have another potential franchise piece to play alongside Rudy Gobert. The player would likely have to show potential as a scorer, both easing Hayward’s offensive responsibilities if he stays in Utah, or filling the production void he’d leave in his wake.

These candidates would be Kentucky’s Malik Monk, Duke’s Jayson Tatum and Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen. All three were elite scorers at the college level, with games that should translate relatively quickly to the NBA. Though each of three have different styles of play, they could fit alongside Hayward as complementary pieces or assume a go-to role in Hayward’s absence.

The difficulty here is determining whether the Jazz have the appropriate assets to move up into the top 10 of the draft, where these three are likely to be drafted, and whether mortgaging those assets returns a high enough value to pull the trigger on such a deal.

There are no guarantees in the draft, and paying such a steep price to move up on anything but a gamble is a risk. If Hayward stays, the risk is worth whatever return the Jazz paid. If he leaves, and the draft pick is anything less than an above average starter, the trade will have been a mistake. This option has both the highest upside, potentially landing a third budding star to place along Hayward and Gobert, and the lowest downside, losing Hayward, as well as the team’s best assets in a draft day trade.

Perhaps looking at the Jazz's recent history is the best indicator of their draft day plans. Last summer, the Jazz traded the 12th overall pick for veteran guard George Hill. Hill stepped in as a day one starter, and despite an injury-plagued season, helped the Jazz progress past the first round of the playoffs.

The Jazz's general manager Dennis Lindsey showed last summer he has a knack for adding veteran pieces to his core who can step in and provide immediate help, needing very little time to gel. In addition to Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw carved out valuable roles in their first seasons with the Jazz.

Additional veteran help would safeguard the Jazz against injuries, having to rely less on unproven players either in the draft or already on the roster. However, trading for non-star-level veterans could complicate the development of Dante Exum and Trey Lyles, should Hayward leave, placing the Jazz in no-man's land, somewhere between a true rebuild and a roster competing for something meaningful.

Like the Thunder last summer, the Jazz's best bet on draft night may be to combine each of these three options, hoping to entice Hayward to stay and safeguard the roster in case he leaves. The Jazz could target a team like the Charlotte Hornets, which owns the 11th pick in the draft as trade partner, trying to get into the lottery to draft a higher potential player that may slip out of the top 10 picks on draft night.

The Jazz would likely have to offer more than just the 24th and 30th picks to move up, potentially offering a proven player like Rodney Hood in exchange for the 11th pick. Hood, still on his rookie contract, offers a low-cost contract while providing complementary scoring that may be appetizing for a team that can’t waste further time developing young talent in the draft. However, if the Jazz were willing to move Hood, they likely wouldn’t have to provide both or either of their first-round picks in the deal.

That pick, or potentially both picks, could be used to draft a more NBA-ready player, or be used in a trade to acquire veteran talent.

Finally, the Jazz could use their two second-round draft picks in more traditional draft fashion, opting to select the best player available, simply hoping to find an NBA caliber player late in the draft.

The Jazz have one more night before free agency opens to prove to Hayward that they provide the best roster with which to sign if he hopes to win a championship in the next four years. On draft night, don’t be surprised to see the Jazz aggressively alter the roster in hopes of appealing to Hayward in July, and hedging their bets should Hayward choose to sign elsewhere as a free agent.

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