Utah is all-in to keep Gordon Hayward, but they also need to shed some salary before their army of young players ink pricey new deals. They've tested the market for Derrick Favors over the last few weeks, according to several league sources; Favors hasn't been quite the same since coming back from injury, and Utah plays Favors and Rudy Gobert together for only 10 or 12 minutes per game.
Utah's seriousness on Favors is unclear; they are mum as usual, and they don't want to weaken their team ahead of the playoffs with Hayward heading to free agency. Favors is still an important player. They could be testing the market ahead of a trade around the draft.
Meanwhile, Utah has about $13 million in cap room to use at the deadline. They could absorb someone else's unwanted salary and extract something -- a pick, or a useful player -- as the price. If they still have that room after the deadline, here's betting Utah offers George Hill a big raise this season as part of a contract extension.
If Hill takes the deal, it could be a tell that Hayward is coming back -- or that Hill is worried about his lingering toe pain.
Hayward is neck-and-neck with George in the All-NBA race, but in a weird twist, the Jazz might not be able to offer him the designated player mega-deal if he earns a spot. Hayward is about to wrap his seventh season; players can ink that deal as an extension after seven seasons only if they are under contract for the following season. Hayward won't be if he declines his $16 million player option for 2017-18.
He could pick up that option and immediately sign the designated player extension to kick in for 2018-19. That may actually be his most lucrative path, even though he could earn much more than $16 million next season if he opts out and signs a brand new contract. If he opts out, Utah's home-court advantage shrinks.
This is probably all moot, since Hayward -- like George -- hangs just outside the All-NBA picture. Hayward could also sign a shorter three-year contract that would fling him back into free agency after his 10th season, the moment he becomes eligible for the largest possible max deal.