Utah Jazz, as expected, exercise team options on Rodney Hood, Dante Exum, Trey Lyles

Yesterday the Utah Jazz announced that they were exercising the team options on 2014 #5 pick Dante Exum, 2014 #23 pick Rodney Hood, and 2015 #12 pick Trey Lyles.

From their press release:

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has elected to exercise its third-year team option for forward Trey Lyles, as well as its fourth-year options on Danté Exum and Rodney Hood. The options for all three players are for the 2017-18 season. Per team policy, financial terms were not released.

The 20-year-old Lyles (6-10, 234, Kentucky) enters his second NBA season after appearing in 80 games (33 starts) as a rookie in 2015-16 and averaging 6.1 points, 3.7 rebounds in 17.3 minutes. He scored 10-plus points 18 times and grabbed 10-plus rebounds on four occasions, registering two double-doubles and was selected to the 2016 Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto. Lyles (12th overall) was selected by the Jazz in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft.

The 21-year-old Exum (6-6, 190, Australia) averaged 8.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 22.9 minutes during the six-game 2016 preseason schedule (three starts). He returned to action after appearing in all 82 games (41 starts) as a rookie in 2014-15 and averaging 4.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 22.2 minutes. During that season, Exum became only the 10th rookie in Jazz history to play in all 82 games, scoring in double figures in 13 games and leading the team in assists 11 times. He helped the Jazz to a 24-17 record as a starter and was selected to compete in the 2015 Rising Stars Challenge during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in New York. He was taken in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2014 NBA Draft.

Hood (6-8, 206, Duke) is entering his third NBA season after appearing in 79 games (all starts) and averaging 14.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists, hitting .359 (161-449) from three-point range, in 32.2 minutes of 79 appearances (all starts) during his second NBA campaign. The 24-year-old ranked third in the NBA in scoring average among all second-year players last season, and his 161 made three-pointers were the second-highest single-season total in Jazz franchise history. He registered six games of 25-plus points last season, including 20-or-more points in 15 contests and 15-plus points on 37 occasions, and was selected to participate in the 2016 Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto. He was originally chosen by the Jazz with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft, and was selected as the NBA’s Western Conference Rookie of the Month during April of his rookie season.

Utah Jazz, NBA.com, 2016

This is a no-brainer as these three rotation guys are still on their rookie contracts. Dante will make $4.992 million, Rodney will make $2.387 million, and Trey is in-between, at $2.441 million. Adding these numbers “to the books” and out of the theoretical realm of being just team options, the current salary for next year will be $49.632 million (out of a cap that’s easily twice that).

Please note that $50 million mark is just for Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Joe Johnson, Alec Burks, Exum, Lyles, and Hood. Furthermore, Hayward, and his $16.7, is going to opt out of the last year of his contract. Boris Diaw, Raul Neto, and Joel Bolomboy have non-guaranteed deals which are not factored into this, but total about another $11 million. And George Hill, Shelvin Mack, Joe Ingles, Jeff Withey, and this Rudy Gobert guy are all going to be hitting the market. (Unless the Jazz extend Rudy soon-ish)

Utah has some money to play with now, but with this core the time for financial flexibility is over. It’s time to put the Miller Family’s money where their mouths are. Today you have to pay for a good playoff team. And this Jazz team has some guys on it who are going to get paid.