Offseason objectives for the Utah Jazz

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Apr 30, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) defends Utah Jazz center Boris Diaw (33) in the second period of game seven of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

5. If Hill Stays…

If George Hill stays, he will almost surely be on a contract big enough to destroy the possibility of an All-Star signing this offseason. Thus, the next thing to do would be to keep all of the key pieces that turned the Jazz into a playoff team this season. This starts by re-signing Boris Diaw.

May 2, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Utah Jazz center Boris Diaw (33) argues with NBA referee David Guthrie (16) during the fourth quarter in game one of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Jazz 106-94. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Diaw had a very up and down season but you would be lying if you said he wasn’t key to their success. His performance over the course of the regular season didn’t blow your socks off, but he was more than handy in the playoffs, and that’s exactly why the Jazz signed him.

Utah has a team option on Diaw’s contract this offseason that will be worth $7,500,000 for the final year of his deal. With the prospect of bringing in a top-end player demolished after extending George Hill, it would be money well spent.

To put into perspective what the Utah Jazz salary chart will look like if the Jazz are to re-sign Hayward, Ingles, Hill and Diaw, you would have to do a lot of guesswork at this point in time because you don’t know what the players will request.

With Hayward’s contract, the most he can get next season is 30 percent of the team’s salary cap if he opts out of his current deal. Gordon could perhaps make more money in the long run by taking the meager $16,736,710 next season if he elects not to opt out because he is then eligible for 35 percent of the team’s salary provided he makes an All-NBA team this season.

If he opts out (which most people are expecting) just to later re-sign for more money in the short-term, he will be getting $30,300,000 next season (30 percent of the projected $101,000,000 team salary cap).

Joe Ingles made it perfectly clear that he wants to play with the Jazz next season so I’m praying that he’s happy to take a slight discount to stay with the Jazz. I’m going to say $10,000,000 for next year (for the following calculations anyway). If George Hill stays, I have him on roughly $17,000,000.

If the above is correct (it won’t be, but it should be close), Utah will be paying their 13-man roster $130,865,869, before you take away the contract of Alec Burks who the Jazz will likely trade. The Jazz would also have to re-sign Shelvin Mack and Jeff Withey to maintain their current roster (minus Burks). So Utah would have already burst the salary cap. In other words, they can not possibly keep under the cap if they re-sign Hayward, Hill, Diaw and Ingles.

So after adding it all up, Boris Diaw only stays if Hill leaves and they are unable to pay a big-time player, or either Joe Ingles or Gordon Hayward don’t re-sign. The other possible scenario is Derrick Favors being traded which could clear enough cap space.

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