Suffice to say, the Utah Jazz are happy they matched the Charlotte Hornets’ offseason offer sheet for budding superstar Gordon Hayward.

The Hornets tried to bring G-Time to the East Coast, but the Jazz committed to the former Butler Bulldog and officially made him the face of the franchise with a new contract extension. In his first year under the new pact, he showed the organization why it made the right choice.

Cleveland Cavaliers v Utah Jazz

Gordon helped turn a Jazz squad that was just 19-34 at the break—the same record Utah held through 53 games a season earlier—into a Western Conference contender that finished the season 38-44. The Jazz had the sixth-best record after the All-Star break, with only elite teams such as the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets finishing better than Utah’s 19-10. And the star small forward only just turned 25 years old.

“We finished this season so strong, winning so many games, it naturally gets you more excited. It gives you a boost in your work ethic and makes you want to work even harder,” G-Time said. “I’m looking forward to the offseason and looking forward to putting in the work.”

He scored a career-high 19.3 points per game this season, good for 17th in the NBA, and he also had career bests in total made field goals (484), threes (120) and free throws (375) while playing 76 games.

Advanced statistics were even more kind to Gordon this year than traditional stats, showing that he had an impact on his team that standard box scores don’t show. His usage rate was also 25.4, a huge leap from his previous high of 22.7, and his player efficiency rating of 20.24 was also a distinct best.

Cleveland Cavaliers v Utah Jazz

His offensive rating of 104.7 was the third-best of his career and his defensive rating of 102.7 was the best of his career, but his numbers after the break were outstanding on defense, when he put together a defensive rating of 93.9. He, power forward Derrick Favors and center Rudy Gobert—who got promoted to the starting lineup when the Jazz shipped Enes Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder midseason—developed a tremendous chemistry on both sides of the ball, but their defense in locking down the frontcourt was incredible.

That the Jazz were able to finish just below .500 despite their youth, in the stacked Western Conference, is amazing already, but doing it during a season that featured as much hardship and roster turnover as the one they had is even more remarkable.

Of the five players who started in Utah’s season-opening loss to the Rockets in October—Gordon, Favors, Kanter, and guards Trey Burke and Alec Burks—only Gordon and Favors were starting for the Jazz toward the end of the season. Kanter was playing in Oklahoma City and would later have harsh words for his time in Salt Lake City, Burke was moved to a role off the bench, while No. 5 overall draft pick Dante Exum started and Burks had season-ending surgery on his shoulder in December.

Brooklyn Nets v Utah Jazz

The Jazz also brought in a new head coach in Quin Snyder, and over the course of the season, the Jazz made some incredible strides, blossoming into arguably the NBA’s best defensive squad and the league’s most pleasant second-half surprise.

“Coach Quin helped us out a lot this year,” Gordon said. “He showed us the details of the game that we were missing. We’ve all gotten better individually from the beginning of the season to the end. He slows down the game for you and shows you exactly what you need to do and how you can do it. That’s something that he’ll continue to help us out with.”

Through the injuries and the changes, there were plenty of ups and downs. Gordon provided a big high moment early when he went toe-to-toe with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Gordon got the best of King James several times throughout the night, tallying 21 points and seven assists—and he splashed home the deciding bucket at the buzzer of the 102-100 win.

Cleveland Cavaliers v Utah Jazz

G-Time was cooking on an individual level all season long, but the Jazz hit a rut in late November, however, Gordon’s 10th 20-point game ended a nine-game skid in a 100-96 win over the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

In late December, the Jazz began to figure things out. In a five-game stretch, the Jazz won four times, topping the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers. Three of those victories came on the road, and G-Time averaged 21.3 points, five assists and 4.8 rebounds.

More ebbs and flows followed in January, including two huge nights from No. 20: a 31-point output in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers and a 26-point, 15-rebound night in a win over the NBA’s top team, the Golden State Warriors.

Then in February, the Jazz finally realized their full potential. Gordon registered consecutive 30-point nights in wins over the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans, carrying the squad into the All-Star break.

Utah made some deals at the trade deadline, and it sent off a prolific scorer in Kanter, slotting the defensive demon Gobert into the starting lineup—and the defense went from decent to dominant in the second half.

Houston Rockets v Utah Jazz

The Jazz allowed opponents to shoot 45.8 percent from the field before the break, good for 22nd in the league, yet they stifled the opposition to the tune of just 42.2 percent after the break, just 0.1 percent behind the Indiana Pacers for the best mark in the NBA.

They used that new philosophy to rip off 10 wins in 12 games out of the break, only allowing 100 points or more once. Gordon’s biggest night came in perhaps the team’s toughest game in that span. He tallied 29 points in a big 109-91 win over the Houston Rockets, who went on to earn the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed.

However, through the final month of the season, the long year and heavy minutes began to take a toll on the Utah star. With various nagging injuries, he missed five games, including the final three of the season, and played sparingly in others once the Jazz were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

Utah Jazz v Oklahoma City Thunder

His one last hurrah against the Memphis Grizzlies came up with an unfortunate end, however. He tallied 27 points on the night, but he had one last shot at a game-tying free throw, but with less than a second on the clock, his shot hit the back iron, saddling the Jazz with an 89-88 loss.

But as Gordon and the Jazz have said all year long, the young squad will only grow through their experiences, no matter the final result.

“We had a lot of experiences this year, and I think that was a success,” Gordon said during his exit interview. “Whether we won or lost in those moments, it will only help us in the future. We had a lot of games that went down to the wire—we won some, we lost some, we hit some big shots, we missed some big shots, and that’s ultimately just going to help us out further down the road.”