Gordon Hayward’s free agency reportedly hinges on whether the Jazz re-sign George Hill

The Utah Jazz will patiently wait while Gordon Hayward decides whether he wants to leave the only team he’s known to join a contender or return to a franchise he guided to its first playoff appearance in the post-Jerry Sloan era. Now, it appears Utah’s odds at retaining their All-Star forward don’t hinge on his decision alone.

Hayward wants the Jazz to bring back point guard George Hill, according to the Deseret News’ Jody Genessy. His decision to return to Utah could be contingent on whether or not the team can retain its starting floor general.

Hill, who was traded from the Pacers to the Jazz last summer, averaged a career-best 16.9 points per game with Utah last season. He only played in 49 games, dealing with a sprained thumb early on, but the Jazz went 33-16 when he was healthy on the floor. They finished the regular season 51-31, losing the tiebreaker to the Los Angeles Clippers to fall to the Western Conference’s fifth seed.

Hill has played at least 70 games in six of his nine NBA seasons, and played 50 games in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season. It is fully conceivable the Jazz could have had a much better record had Hill played a full 82-game season.

The 2017-18 NBA salary cap is currently projected to reach $99 million, though that number is tentative and subject to change.

The Jazz currently have just over $63 million committed in guaranteed salaries for next season. That doesn’t include, however, the max contract (starting at $29.7 million) they’ll have to offer Gordon Hayward, nor the $4.3 million cap hold on their room mid-level exception, the $4 million cap hold on Joe Ingles or Boris Diaw’s $7.5 million contract that fully guarantees on July 15.

It’s safe to say Utah has some decisions to make this summer. Hill has some choices of his own.

The 31-year-old floor general fresh off of a career year could be looking to pick up his last big paycheck. Hill is coming off of a five-year, $40 million contract that paid $8 million flat per year. After Mike Conley signed for five years, $153 million last summer, everyone’s looking to cash in.

There’s a good chance Hill doesn’t garner a max contract this summer, but he could very well field offers in the $20 million-per-year ballpark. The Jazz will need to be prepared to shell out that much money if they want to keep their starting point guard.

Realistically, if Utah wanted, it could re-sign George Hill then bring back both Ingles and Hayward to keep the crew together. Doing so, however, would drown ownership in luxury taxes for a team the Warriors swept out of the second round in the playoffs.

If re-signing George Hill is the lone domino to knock down in order to retain Gordon Hayward, the Jazz should bulldoze it, and fast.

Hill is a solid two-way combo guard with the physical tools to defend both backcourt positions. He’s proven to be effective both with and without the ball, has leadership experience under Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, and developed good chemistry in his first season in Utah.

The Jazz have Rudy Gobert locked up in a max contract until at least 2021, and are developing Rodney Hood and Alec Burks into starting-caliber wing players. If they bring the same team back, continue to develop their players and improve via trade or small free-agent signings, Utah could conceivably be the West’s No. 4 seed next season.

That depends on what the other offers are. If there isn’t an opportunity to compete for a championship available (Hi, San Antonio), a player’s next best step is to secure as much money as humanly possible.

If a four-year max offer is coming from a team that may be on the outside of title contention but could benefit from Hill’s veteran leadership to make a playoff push, he should take the money. But if the difference in cash isn’t much more than what he’d get from the Jazz, Hill should stay where he’s had success.

Hill’s a player whose versatile skill set has been undervalued much of his career. He seems to have found a home in Utah. But Hill should get assurances from all parties involved that Hayward will re-sign if he does. While it would free up more money for the Jazz to throw at him, it would make no sense for Hill to stay in Utah if Hayward bolts town.

The Jazz are in an awkward scenario: they can offer Hayward more money than any other team and are coming off of the most successful season in recent history. But their star player is threatening to leave for a contender, be it Boston or potentially Miami, and wants their starting point guard re-signed if he’s going to consider staying.

What matters here is Hayward wants to compete for a championship, and the Jazz — with the same pieces they had last season — aren’t close to competing against Golden State, San Antonio or Houston’s new All-Star back court.

For that reason, it makes no sense for the Jazz to overpay Hill instead of developing a young Dante Exum, and it makes even less sense for the veteran guard to stick around during a possible rebuild. I give Hill and the Jazz a 20-percent chance at a reunion.

If Hayward decides to return, Hill will be back. But if the All-Star leaves for the Celtics or Heat, the veteran floor general should leave with him.