Utah Jazz make strong play to re-sign free agent forward Gordon Hayward

The Utah Jazz put a full-court press on All-Star forward Gordon Hayward in an attempt to persuade the free agent to re-sign.

Traveling on Monday to San Diego to visit with Hayward were general manager Dennis Lindsey, coach Quin Snyder, team president Steve Starks, team owner Gail Miller, center Rudy Gobert and forward Joe Ingles. They were joined by recently acquired point guard Ricky Rubio, who came from Spain for the meeting.

Hayward, 27, is one of the top remaining players available on the market. He also is being heavily sought by the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat.

ESPN reported that the meeting with the Jazz lasted about 3 1/2 hours. They were the final team to meet with Hayward, who visited Miami on Saturday and Boston on Sunday.

Hayward's Boston visit included a game at Fenway Park and a meeting with point guard Isaiah Thomas. He was picked up at the airport by Brad Stevens, Hayward's college coach at Butler.

Hayward is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract and sign a near-max deal with one of the three teams.

Last season, Hayward averaged a career-best 21.9 points per game.

Part of the Jazz's pitch to Hayward is his improvement under the coaching staff and the opportunity to play alongside Gobert, who is one of the best passing centers (6.2 assists per game last season) and defensive players in the league.

Utah is also hoping that the trade for Rubio will be an enticement along with the re-signing of Ingles, a standout role player. The team could lose point guard George Hill via free agency, but Hayward had mentioned he likes Rubio's pass-first game.

Hayward is expected to come to a decision soon.