Can the Jazz hold on to George Hill?
With Gordon Hayward’s free agency looming, his decision could seriously impact the Jazz, along with this George Hill, Joe Ingles, Shelvin Mack and Jeff Withey are all going into Free Agency. The Utah Jazz need to make some tough decisions, as they have already committed $66 Million for the 2017-2018 season, excluding Gordon’s player option. Utah has limited flexibility, but some expendable pieces to clear cap space. It would be extremely hard for Utah to bring back both George Hill and Gordon Hayward without some trades.
Re-signing Gordon is probably number #1 on Dennis Lindsey board of offseason plans, Gordon would probably expect a max. It will be a really hard choice for management and ownership, but it’s something that is needed to be done to be competitive, as all-star type players are hard to come by as a small market.
Also, it appears that Joe Ingles likes it in Utah and wants to return, therefore getting him on a cheaper contract may be easier. Having said this, however, Joe Ingles defensive performance in the playoffs really boosted his next contract, holding JJ Redick to 9.1 points on 38% from the field and 34% from three and also holding Klay Thompson to 14 points on 43%. If Utah gets him on a deal under 3yr/ $30 Million or under $10 Million a year they would have done a good job. Joe Ingles was the guy Quin Snyder turned to when guys went down with injuries and was a large part of their success due to his versatility, experience, and maturity.
If they re-sign Gordon Hayward to the max and Joe Ingles to a 3yr/ $30 Million without moving any players or without bringing in any major pieces, that would put them right at the cap of about $105 Million, with giving them basically no flexibility without trading anyone. Even if they don’t resign Joe Ingles the likelihood of them keeping George Hill and Gordon Hayward without moving major pieces is extremely low.
Fortunately, the Utah Jazz has a couple of pieces that didn’t really impact winning this season that can be moved relatively easily to create cap space. A possible moveable contract is Alec Burks, as he is making $22 Million over the next two years. Alec Burks has not been able to impact the game in any way in the last 3 years and has only played 100 games due to multiple injuries. Derrick Favours is another possibility, who is making $12 Million, with one year left on his deal. He had a down year due to injuries if 100% healthy he can be extremely valuable to any team on a great contract. The Jazz has two late first round picks this year, which could be moved to get a quality player on a cheap contract, but draft picks are a good way to fill a roster relatively cheaply.
The best situation for the Jazz is if they can get George on a short term deal, example 2 years, but ideally, the contract George is probably looking for is more of a long-term deal. George Hill might want too much money that the Jazz really don’t have. Ideally, the maximum the Jazz should offer is around 20% of the cap, which is around $20 Million a year. The Jazz probably doesn’t want to commit 25% of their cap on an average point guard who posts his prime. If signing George Hill pushes them close to the cap or above, I can see the Jazz going another route. This may involve either investing heavily in the development of Dante Exum and get him as much experience and playing time as possible or signing a veteran.
It will be very interesting to see how it plays out and will we see George Hill in a Utah Jazz jersey next year.
