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SALT LAKE CITY — During the summer of 2014, Gordon Hayward was a restricted free agent, allowed to pursue contracts with teams outside of Utah, with the understanding that the Jazz had the right to match any contract offer he was given.
Hayward received a maximum deal from the Charlotte Hornets for four years and $63 million dollars, which the Jazz promptly matched. The fourth year of the deal included a player option, allowing Gordon Hayward to opt out of the final year of his contract in the summer of 2017, to look for another long-term contract.
Unless Hayward is seriously injured, or sees a dramatic drop in production next season, fans should expect Hayward to opt out of his contract and look for more guaranteed money. The problem for the Jazz in the summer of 2017 is that Hayward will no longer be a restricted free agent, meaning he would be free to sign with any team he chooses, regardless of the Jazz hopes he would stay in Utah.
In 2014, the NBA signed a lucrative new TV deal that will pay the NBA $2.6 billion dollars annually, money that will dictate the future salary cap of every NBA team. Whereas the salary cap for each team this year is $70 million dollars, that number could take a dramatic increase next season to upwards of $90 million and nearly $110 million during the 2017-18 season.
With that type of money available on the NBA marketplace, Hayward would be wise to opt out of his contract and sign a contract with the NBA's highest bidder.
Under the current collective bargaining agreement, a player seven years into his career, as Gordon Hayward will be in 2017, can sign a contract with a maximum value of 30 percent of the NBA's salary cap. If the projected salary cap numbers of $110 million are correct, Hayward could sign a deal valued at $33 million a year, double what he makes on his current deal.
Undoubtedly, if Hayward keeps up his recent production, there will be an NBA franchise willing to pay him that type of money, but should the Jazz?
In the same 2017 off-season, Rudy Gobert will be available to sign his first contract extension, which could see him earn 25 percent of the available $110 million, or roughly $27.5 million a season.
Derrick Favors contract expires in the summer of 2018 and like Hayward, will be an unrestricted free agent, and able to sign a max contract worth 30 percent of the salary cap.
Rodney Hood and Dante Exum would be able to sign max deals worth 25 percent of the NBA salary cap in the same 2018 off-season.
Those five players — Exum, Hood, Hayward, Favors and Gobert — currently constitute the Jazz starting lineup, and if they continue to progress in their careers, could bring up 135 percent of the salary cap by the summer of 2018.
In other words, the Jazz are going to have to choose which players they are willing to move forward with and who they can live with starting as soon as next summer.
Is Gordon Hayward worth a max contract?
This becomes a very important question for the Jazz starting this summer, if the team feels they could better apply the likely $33 million contract to add to the team's depth, finding value for Hayward on the trade market becomes more difficult the closer you get to his contract expiring.
In an article from ESPN, Zach Lowe asked whether or not the Jazz could trade Hayward this off-season for a top five pick in the draft, hoping to find a future star to fill the absence of Hayward, while cutting costs with a rookie contract.
The deal makes sense if the Jazz feel they are bound to lose one of their young core pieces, with Hayward bringing back the most in return.
The Jazz could also look at the promising rookie campaign of Trey Lyles and hope that eventually he is able to replace Derrick Favors in the Jazz starting lineup, paving the way for the Jazz to move on from Favors for a similarly high price.
Hayward is a valuable NBA player and one of only 22 players in the league averaging better than 20 points per game. But is he capable of being the best player on a team contending for a championship?
If the Jazz feel the answer is yes, they should be willing to pay Hayward max money immediately after he opts out of his contract. If the answer is no, the Jazz should examine what the likelihood is of being able to keep him in Utah beyond next season and make phone calls to 29 other teams this summer.
Ben Anderson is the co-host of Gunther in the Afternoon with Kyle Gunther on 1320 KFAN from 3-7, Monday through Friday. Read Ben's Utah Jazz blog at 1320kfan.com, and follow him on Twitter @BenKFAN.
