SALT LAKE CITY — The Jazz went through shootaround Friday morning, hours before their rematch with the San Antonio Spurs. Media spoke with George Hill, Derrick Favors, Joel Bolomboy, and Quin Snyder.

George Hill extension

George Hill has been the Jazz's best player to begin the season, putting up 21 points per game and a 26 PER to qualify for the top 20 players in the NBA in both categories.

That has people wondering if the Jazz can keep Hill, a free agent this summer, around in Utah. Before Thursday's game, ESPN's Dallas Mavericks reporter Tim MacMahon reported the following on Hill's willingness to sign an extension and avoid his free agency entirely.

Here's the full report:

The Jazz see PG George Hill as a long-term fit and could attempt to sign him to an extension this season, preventing him from hitting the free agency market in the summer. "If that's the case, then I would be very interested in that," Hill told ESPN. "But I'm going to let them take care of that and just do what I can control." Hill is making $8 million in the final season of his contract, a bargain considering his sensational start in Utah. Whether or not he gets an extension, Hill said he hopes to remain with the Jazz long term. "I'm not the type of guy that likes to move around and go from team to team," said Hill, who leads the Jazz with 21.4 points and 4.6 assists per game. "I really like it here. My family likes it here. I've got some friends here. The city's been great for me so far, and it's a nice place to raise a family, so hopefully I get an opportunity to re-sign here if they would love me to be here."

Hill was asked to confirm that report today, and here's what he said:

"I personally didn't say that I'm demanding an extension, I didn't even know that I'm up for an extension. So I didn't know where that came from. What I did say when I found out was that I'm going to leave that to the front office. If they want me here, I'd love to be here. I'll let them take care of that."

It's interesting: everyone agrees that Hill didn't say that he's demanding an extension. He never said that, and it's kind of weird that he thinks that we think he did. But beyond that, the message is pretty similar: Hill wants to stay in Salt Lake.

I don't think it makes a ton of sense for Hill to sign an extension now, though. Hill's agent saw the spectacular amount of money committed to point guards this offseason, and know that the cap only goes up more in the summer of 2017. Why do anything now? And indeed, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune reported in July that Hill's camp doesn't want an extension, and wants free agency. A re-negotiation extension could actually get Hill more money now, but at the possible expense of significant money later.

But the mutual interest in Hill's long term future remaining in SLC is nice, given the level of play he's shown so far.

Derrick Favors' extension and health

Derrick Favors is also eligible to receive an re-negotiation extension on his deal, which has always seemed more likely. That's because Favors has two years left on his deal, making $11-12 million per year. If he chose to re-negotiate into a longer deal now, he could make more money (closer to his market value of $20-$25 million per year) in the next two seasons, and extend his financial security for longer. On the other hand, he might make fewer total dollars than if he were a free agent in 2018. For what it's worth, it probably doesn't work out to give both Hill and Favors a contract restructuring given the Jazz's current cap space.

Favors isn't really thinking about the re-negotiation extension now, but said, "if that opportunity comes, me and my agent will talk about it and see what happens."

"Of course I want to be here, but it's a business too," Favors continued. "But of course I want to be here. I love being here. If that opportunity comes, me and my agent will talk about it."

It's interesting that Favors said "if that opportunity comes," because it implies that the Jazz haven't given Favors an offer yet that's reached his desk, so to speak. Favors became eligible for an extension on October 19. Then, Favors' agent Wallace Prather told The Salt Lake Tribune, "We are definitely open to talking."

I wonder if Favors' ongoing health difficulties are giving the Jazz pause. After all, it may not make sense to commit long-term money to a player with worrying nagging knee problems. They may be waiting to see how Favors heals and maintains a standard NBA-starter workload before making any offers.

Speaking of which, when Favors was asked about his level of conditioning today, he said this: "I feel good. I don't think I'm ready for a full 30 minutes yet, I'm still getting there, but I feel good." The Jazz will hope he can play more soon.

Boris Diaw's contusion

Favors' minute restriction becomes more of a problem in the wake of Boris Diaw's leg contusion, which Tim MacMahon reported has a timeline of about two weeks. It's kind of sad that Diaw is missing two games against his former team, all of whom still rave about his personality on and off the floor.

Diaw was terrible in his first three games with the Jazz, and in the wake of him being held out this week, I wondered if the contusion caused Diaw's on court problems.

"I think definitely," Snyder said. "You saw a guy who was playing through it, he's a pro. He's going to do everything he can to contribute. But he banged it right at the end of preseason, and you could tell a difference between preseason and regular season."

It's hard to be an analyst in a world with imperfect information; I feel bad about criticizing Diaw for his play while playing hurt. If Diaw's struggles were really due to his injuries (and Snyder is right that the timeline makes sense), then he deserves a second chance to show Jazz fans what he can do at 100 percent. And holding him out this week, given that level of play, is absolutely the right call.

Trip to VA yesterday

Yesterday, Hill, Joe Johnson, Dennis Lindsey, Steve Starks, and other members of the Jazz organization went to the George E. Whalen Veterans Affairs Medical Center on the campus of the University of Utah to clean up the facility for fall and unveil a renovated gym for the veterans.

George Hill, fresh off a 25-point performance, helping by raking at the VA center here at the University of Utah. pic.twitter.com/N1Mt5f6CQO — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) November 3, 2016

There were a couple of meaningful moments, I thought. First, Joe Johnson went door-to-door to visit veterans in hospital rooms, giving them signed basketballs and talking to them about their lives. The veterans were really interesting. As Johnson gave them pep talks about how they could battle their maladies, some just wanted to give Johnson encouragement on his NBA season with the Jazz!

Starks and Lindsey debated with one gentleman on whether or not Michael Jordan pushed off on his fated shot in 1998, that was a lot of fun. And Hill held court with another veteran, who just came up to Hill as he was raking and wanted to talk about Hill's adjustment to Salt Lake City.

I asked Hill about the experience today. "It's mindblowing, it's fun, it's a good feeling. Anytime you can go back and help those in need that help you live a free live every day. I enjoy doing things like that with the military and I look forward to doing more."

Bolomboy up and down

After being sent down to the Salt Lake City Stars, the D-League affiliate of the Jazz yesterday, Joel Bolomboy was called back up today.

He's going to yo-yo a lot. Yesterday is a great example: the Jazz didn't hold practice after a back-to-back, but the Stars did as part of their training camp. But in order for Bolomboy to practice with any team, he had to be officially sent down. Today, in order to go through shootaround with the Jazz, he had to be called back up.

Bolomboy's fine with it, though. "I think it's something I can definitely benefit from," he said. If I'm not getting in the game or getting the reps I need to grow on the court, I think it'll be really beneficial."

"You know, when I went yesterday, I was actually surprised. It's pretty much the same exact stuff. What we do here they do. It's almost like practicing here."

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