Jazz notes: Lindsey comments on Hayward's free agency, point guard market shifts


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SALT LAKE CITY β€” With just over 48 hours to go until NBA free agency, it's an incredibly busy time for the Utah Jazz. Here are all of the notes you need to know.

Hayward's free agency timeline

We’re learning more about the timeline of Gordon Hayward’s free agency.

Hayward will meet with three teams: the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat, and the Utah Jazz. Yahoo! reported that Hayward will meet with the Celtics and Heat on Saturday, July 1. Meanwhile, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune reports that Hayward will meet with the Jazz on Monday, July 3.

Jones reports that Hayward wants to meet with the three teams and then make a decision "in short order." Much of the NBA will be waiting on his decision before making their next move.

Wojnarowski reports on Hayward

When Adrian Wojnarowski reports, you listen. He's the most plugged-in reporter in the NBA. So when the former-Yahoo-Sports-and-now-ESPN reporter writes about Hayward's free agency, we'll report it in this space here.

In particular, Wojnarowski reports that the Celtics are trying to sign Hayward and trade for Paul George from Indiana. It would behoove Boston to sign Hayward first and trade for George afterward to minimize the damage they'd have to do to their roster to make the lineup happen.

Boston reportedly has trade contingencies in place, ready once Hayward or Blake Griffin, another big free agent, make their decision.

Woj also reports that the Jazz are "exploring multiple scenarios to reshape the roster should the All-Star forward leave the franchise." But they're also working to keep Hayward by "working to upgrade the roster, including point guard, before July 1."

Here's what I'll add to that: each of the three potential destinations for Hayward (Utah, Boston and Miami) are strangely confident they'll be able to sign him. Only one can be right.

Dennis Lindsey comments on free agency

While the draft prospects met with the media in a Grand America Hotel ballroom, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey spoke to a small group of reporters in the hallway about the draft and his team's plans in free agency.

Lindsey was circumspect, as usual, but said that the big trades around the NBA didn't increase the pressure on him to do something risky in this year's free agency period.

"Sometimes you capitulate to pressure, and then you overreach," Lindsey said. "We want to stick to our fundamentals of team-building. Mindset, culture, skills, fits, value-adds, contract production. We feel like if we continually do that, we'll be in good stead."

And how are the Jazz feeling about keeping their incumbent free agents, especially Hayward and George Hill?

"Because of the city, the organization, the level of the team, Quin, the development staff, and Rudy, we're confident. We'll find out if it's over-confident or appropriately placed."

Kids write letters to Hayward

One Tooele Junior High School teacher, Kristine Jakins, may have made an impact on Hayward's free agency.

She asked her seventh- and eighth-grade language arts students to write letters to Hayward about his upcoming free agency decision. Those letters were delivered to Hayward, along with a cover letter from Jakins.

And it seems as if the Haywards noticed. Robyn Hayward, Gordon's wife, posted about the letters on her Instagram story Wednesday:

> Robyn Hayward, Gordon's wife, just shared these letters on IG from a Tooele junior high class asking Hayward to stay. [pic.twitter.com/53Mhxsnr9T](https://t.co/53Mhxsnr9T) > > β€” Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) [June 28, 2017](https://twitter.com/andyblarsen/status/879862865141706752)

Clearly, the community wants Hayward to stay in Utah. We'll see what he chooses to do after free agency opens at 10 p.m. MDT on June 30.

Hayward Gatorade video

Hayward hasn't been completely resting since the Jazz's season ended. He filmed a two-minute commercial for Gatorade in San Diego, highlighting his run to the national championship game with Butler, and in particular the shot that went just long that would have secured the title.

Teodosic says he wants to go to America

Milos Teodosic, the star international point guard, confirmed Tuesday that he'll be turning down CSKA Moscow's offer and will be signing with the NBA.

He told Novosti, a Serbian magazine, that "I will not stay in CSKA Moscow, my wish is to go in NBA," according to Sportando. Teodosic had reportedly been given a three-year, $12 million offer. As is customary for European offers, that contract would be a "net" deal, meaning after taxes, so a similar deal in the United States would be for about $24 million.

Then, this report from Serbian paper Politika says that Teodosic "is closest" to signing with the Jazz, thanks to his relationship with Quin Snyder and the way Utah runs its offense. Snyder was Teodosic's assistant coach in Russia during his year at CSKA.

Teodosic is perhaps the most talented passer in the world, as well as an excellent outside and mid-range shooter. He's not a good defender, though. Would Rudy Gobert be able to make up for that deficiency? He's also 30 years old.

Jazz interested in Rubio

Still, there are other point guard possibilities to be decided before Teodosic would sign with Utah, especially the availability of Ricky Rubio.

> Follow-up to yesterday's Ricky Rubio story: League sources say Utah is among the teams to express trade interest in the veteran point guard. > > β€” Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) [June 27, 2017](https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/879769341645905920)

The Jazz could trade for the Minnesota PG in the next few days, before their 2016-17 cap space expires. Waiting until after July 1 would mean that the Jazz would likely have to include a quality player or prospect in the Minnesota deal to make the salaries fit NBA rules. After July 1, Boris Diaw and Raul Neto's non-guaranteed contracts aren't enough, so they'd have to include Joel Bolomboy, unless the Jazz could convince the Wolves to take on Alec Burks' big deal. I'm skeptical that Minnesota would bite on that.

Would Rubio be a good fit in Utah? Well, it depends on if you think he can continue the progress he made in his shooting over the last three months of the 2016-17 season. If so, he'd be a fantastic passing point guard who could fit into the Jazz's offense, and gather steals on defense. If not, the 26-year-old's inability to shoot would cramp the Jazz's offensive spacing in a major, major way.

The Chris Paul deal, and how it impacts the Jazz

Game 7 in Los Angeles against Utah was the last game of Chris Paul's Clipper career. The 32-year-old was traded to the Houston Rockets Wednesday in exchange for Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Lou Williams, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, a future first-round pick, and about $600,000 in cash considerations.

The latter three players named above were acquired by the Rockets earlier in the day in order to complete the deal. All are fringe players on non-guaranteed contracts.

The Clippers completed the deal after Paul informed them that he planned on signing with the Rockets in free agency. Scrambling, the Clippers traded Paul to the Rockets, in order to get some assets after his departure.

Obviously, a Paul pairing with James Harden pushes Houston near the very top of the NBA in terms of talent and intrigue. While both played point guard last season, the Rockets had the chance to add talent and clearly succeeded, they probably solidified their spot among the top four of the Western Conference.

From a Jazz perspective, the deal means that Beverley has been moved to a team that now badly needs a point guard. That takes him off the market for a trade, which had been considered by Utah.

It also means that Paul will not be headed to San Antonio, meaning the Spurs will have to point their point guard search elsewhere. That could mean Jazz free agent George Hill is the most likely landing spot for their free agency money, bolstered by Pau Gasol opting out of his contract last week.

Draft picks land in SLC

Jazz draft picks Donovan Mitchell, Tony Bradley and Nigel Williams-Goss all arrived in Salt Lake City Tuesday, in order to meet with the media Wednesday and prepare for the Utah Jazz Summer League.

Both Mitchell and Bradley tweeted upon arriving in Salt Lake, and Williams-Goss called it a city he was very familiar with, thanks to his experience playing in Utah in his college career.

> Home πŸ™πŸΎβœŒπŸΎ [@utahjazz](https://twitter.com/utahjazz) [pic.twitter.com/87DhTkWl2O](https://t.co/87DhTkWl2O) > > β€” Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) [June 27, 2017](https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/879807682148007937)

> Spent my first night here in Salt Lake City, I love it here already ! πŸŽΌπŸŽΌπŸ€ > > β€” Tony Bradley Jr. (@ToBrad1) [June 28, 2017](https://twitter.com/ToBrad1/status/880086952728449025)

All three will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Salt Lake Bees game Wednesday evening. The first real pitch of the game will be at 7 p.m., so expect the Jazz draftees to throw their ceremonial pitch a few minutes earlier.

Utah Jazz Summer League notes

The three-day, four-team Utah Jazz Summer League begins Monday, July 3, and the Jazz are flying in prospects and roster players to take part in the competition.

The Jazz's summer-league team mini-camp will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 30-July 2. Rosters will be announced Thursday.

One note that Lindsey revealed after the draft: Dante Exum is slated to play in the Utah Jazz Summer League, but will not continue on to the Las Vegas Summer League the following week. Exum had previously said that he wouldn't be participating in summer league, but it seems like he's agreed that the three-game stint in front of the home crowd will allow him to show off his development since the season ended. Jazz staff have been impressed with Exum's commitment to training since exit interviews on May 9.

Joe Ingles offered qualifying offer

This is a minor logistical move, but the Jazz offered free agent Joe Ingles a qualifying offer this week, RealGM's Keith Smith reported. The offer, good for one year and $2.69 million, would ensure Ingles was a restricted free agent when he hits the market on July 1.

Ingles won't sign the qualifying offer and is instead looking for a higher dollar, longer-term deal. It's likely he signs that deal with the Utah Jazz. After the season ended, Ingles told reporters, "Everyone knows that I want to come back. I couldn't think of a better place to come back. Hopefully, it all works out and it's a nice quick process and I'll be back here as soon as possible."

But the qualifying offer means that the Jazz would have the ability to match any contract another team extended Ingles.

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