Breakfast Discussion

I’ve got two things for this Friday’s breakfast discussion.

First, @NBA_Math from Twitter has been posting some fun graphics as of late. Here are a few:

Rudy, the ultimate outlier-

Utah Jazz with the Good Offense and Good Defense-

Joe Ingles in the underrated-

Second, Hayward and the Jazz have some choices to make this summer. Here’s an article from Heat Hoops on the situation. For those of you who are wondering if you should follow said link, here’s a small taste from the article:

The last time Hayward hit the open market, as a restricted free agent in the summer of 2014, talks with the Jazz broke down to point where he was forced to pursue other options. Utah could have kept him off the market had they negotiated a contract extension the prior October, but Hayward was reportedly seeking a four-year deal valued at $50 million while the Jazz reportedly held firm at $48 million. The hard line ultimately proved costly.

Rather than attempt to negotiate a new deal that could have extended as long as five years the following July, the Jazz made known its intention to match any offer sheet Hayward signed. He went on to sign a four-year, $63 million max offer sheet with the Charlotte Hornets on July 10, 2014. To make the deal particularly unpleasant for Utah, the Hornets threw in a 15 percent trade kicker and a player option on the final season. They matched anyway.

Nearly three years later, that contract sets Hayward up for one of the league’s most intriguing summer scenarios.

Almost every team with max level cap room will inquire about his services, including the Boston Celtics (coached by his former college coach Brad Stevens) and the Miami Heat.

But the Jazz simply can’t afford to lose him. If they do, the whole experiment implodes. And a new provision in the CBA to come could provide the Jazz a unique, but costly, financial advantage in retaining his star player.

Hayward will command max dollars this summer. But all max salaries aren’t built equal in the NBA. There are three levels: those with 0-6 years of experience are eligible for up to 25 percent of the salary cap (a Tier 1 max salary), those with 7-9 years of experience are eligible for up to 30 percent of the salary cap (a Tier 2 max salary), and those with 10+ years of experience are eligible for up to 35 percent of the salary cap (a Tier 3 max salary).

And to heighten the insecurity of all Jazz fans for this upcoming summer, Boston cheered for Haward in our latest game with the C’s causing Jae Crowder to Twitter lament:

Worst Analogy

The holidays seemed to lower the participation for the Worst Analogy Championship Belt. Zero responses for episode 010. Consequently, I am going to take a moment and reflect back on past winners of the WACB (including description of what they provided a winning analogy for) (note: the WACB list is best read in an Academy Awards style voice):

[=====(WACB)=====]

Episode 001- VegasPete for Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (literal version)

Episode 002- VegasPete for “Shia LaBeouf” Live

Episode 003- parelkid for Mini Lasagna

Episode 004- 15,806 assists for Mr. Bean

Episode 005- 15,806 assists for Batman vs Superman (How it should have ended)

Episode 006- Fesenko for President for George Lucas in Love

Episode 007- Chowda for James Bond vs Jaws

Episode 008- 15,806 assists for Harry Potter puppets

Episode 009- gubihero for National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Episode 010- no champion/belt vacated; Star Wars Die Hard trailer

To win this week’s Worst Analogy Championship Belt, all you need to do is come up with an analogy for this Elio Motors E1c clip:

Good luck!

Cap Space

I saw this image in the image assets that we have available to us and I wondered if this was some version of the gay elf defense from back in the Boozer and Korver days.

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports