With the vast amount of money the Jazz will have to spend to retain shooting guaeds Rodney Hood and Joe Ingles, the Utah Jazz may want to get rid of one of those contracts soon. Look no further than “The Baconator”.
Who is the Baconator you ask? Well this Baconator isn’t the value meal hamburger at Wendy’s. His name is Dwayne Bacon and he might just be the “Value Meal” the Jazz need to progress. He worked out for the Jazz last week and his impressive showing could help him land a late first round pick that would send him to Salt Lake City.
Bacon “hammed it up” in his two seasons at Florida State University. He averaged 16.5 points on a 51% field goal percentage. He was ranked 14th on the ESPN 100 list when he came out of Oak Hill Academy.
Rodney Hood is good but not consistent. Joe Ingles is consistently tough but not good enough to be a star shooting guard in this league. Bacon is like the American breakfast staple his last name represents: Always good.
The Jazz will have to deal with Rodney Hood’s contract in 2018 as he is a restricted free agent. Joe Ingles is a restricted free agent this summer and in wake of the “Stayward” campaign for the Gordon Hayward free agency sweepstakes, Joe Ingles said jokingly that they should make a billboard for him.
While none of the current Jazz players are billboard worthy, here are some routes the Jazz could take to improve this position.
Best Case Scenario: The Jazz draft Kevin Bacon in the first round. Baconator shirts with images of sizzling bacon sell like wildfire to offset the law suits that Wendy’s tries to make on the organization. The Jazz trade Rodney Hood and a couple of draft picks to acquire Jimmy Butler in free agency. The Jazz move Joe Ingles to the backup point guard position with Dwayne bacon playing solid rookie minutes as he backs up Jimmy Butler.
The sharp shooting from this position is the best since Jeff Hornacek and the Jazz make it to the Western Conference Finals where they lose to the Warriors in 7 games.
Worst case scenario: The Jazz acquire Dwayne Bacon. The Charlotte Hornets put the pressure on the Jazz (again) and this time they decide not to match the double digit years salary offer for Joe Ingles. Dwayne Bacon comes off the bench and scores an impressive 10 points per game. Rodney Hood is terrible and fans chant “WE WANT BACON!” Midseason. Bacon earns the start over Rodney and has flashes of success for a while but ultimately ends up losing the starting gig to Hood again due to many rookie mistakes. The Jazz barely make the playoffs and are swept by the Warriors and their lack of tanking once again makes them have to find another overrated shooting guard as a late first round draft pick.
Probable scenario: The Jazz don’t snag Jimmy Butler in free agency but they do retain Joe Ingles and they trade Rodney Hood and Alec Burks and draft picks for another first round pick by the Orlando Magic. With the 6th pick They select Rodney Hood 2.0 out of Duke in Jayson Tatum. Tatum is the backup small forward unless Hayward leaves. Joe Ingles is the starting shooting guard with Bacon as a key reserve. The Jazz impress to finish 3rd in the west but this time Chris Paul is on the 2 seed Spurs and avenges his previous year’s loss to the Jazz when he was on the Clippers. The Spurs beat the Jazz in 7 games to earn the right to once again get swept by the Golden State Western Conference All-Stars.