Extension Talks Ongoing For Favors, Hayward

The Jazz are one of six NBA teams with multiple players eligible for rookie-scale extensions this offseason, and Utah has begun discussing potential deals for both Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward, according to GM Dennis Lindsey. Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that Lindsey appeared on 1280 AM in Utah today and confirmed that extension talks for both players are ongoing.

According to Oram (via Twitter), Lindsey suggested that Utah's preference would be to extend Favors and Hayward this offseason, but the team is also comfortable with letting one or both guys play out the 2013/14 season. In that scenario, the market would dictate their value next summer, and the Jazz would still have the opportunity to match any rival offers. Given how little long-term money the club has on its books, matching an offer sheet wouldn't be an issue.

When Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors took an early look at this year's extension candidates back in March, he predicted that Favors would receive a new long-term deal while Hayward would eventually hit restricted free agency. Because both players are entering the last year of their rookie-scale contracts, they'll have until October 31st to work something out with the Jazz.

Oram adds in a series of tweets that Lindsey also addressed a few other Utah-related topics during his radio appearance. The GM hinted that the Jazz may not end up using all the future draft picks they've acquired, and indicated that there should be an announcement about Justin Zanik's role in the front office coming soon. Lindsey also added that he hopes Raul Neto will be a long-time member of the Jazz — when I examined 2013's remaining unsigned draft picks yesterday, I noted that Neto is one of the second-rounders whose future is still up in the air.

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