Jazz Mailbag: Can Blake Hinson earn minutes?

With much of the attention centered on the recent acquisition of Jaren Jackson Jr. and how the Jazz would position themselves for the draft lottery, Hinson’s impressive production was largely overlooked.

In retrospect, that may have been a mistake.

Despite appearing in just 14 games, Hinson made an immediate impact down the stretch. In only 286 total minutes, the Pittsburgh product knocked down 37 3-pointers, or a staggering 4.7 made threes per 36 minutes. That was by far the highest mark on the team, and 1.4 more than Brice Sensabaugh, who ranked second on a per-minute basis.

One of the stories from the offseason is Blake Hinson apparently having shed around 20 lbs.

If he continues to shoot it as well as he did to end last season he has a chance to breakthrough on the roster. https://t.co/4aD5lr8bb3

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) June 29, 2026

Hinson also shot an eye-popping 46.8 percent from 3-point range, six percentage points higher than Svi Mykhailiuk, the Jazz’s second-most efficient shooter.

Over the summer, the narrative changed.

In five appearances across Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Hinson shot just 20.8 percent from three on 4.8 attempts per game, lowering expectations for the 26-year-old entering his second NBA season.

However, Hinson raised the bar once again in his preseason debut.

The wing knocked down four of his five 3-point attempts in just 16 minutes against the Nuggets and went viral for his postgame comments about his commitment to making the roster.

 

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Will Blake Hinson play meaningful minutes this season?

Conversations with people around the organization suggest that Hinson, along with Trey Alexander and Tamar Bates, all of whom are also on two-way contracts, would spend most of the season with the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League.

With a deep group of established shooting guards and small forwards, Hinson faces significant competition for playing time on a team looking to win right away.

Furthermore, the organization will place an emphasis on the development of rookie Darryn Peterson and second-year wing Ace Bailey at those positions, clouding Hinson’s outlook further.

Sensabaugh and Mykhailiuk are more proven NBA players and dangerous shooters in their own right. Josh Green and Josh Okogie are better defenders than Hinson and are coming off strong shooting seasons as well.

And yet, the Florida native’s production would be difficult to ignore if he continues shooting at anything close to this level, especially given his modest salary.

Blake Hinson has had some nice moments since debuting for the Jazz.

He’s averaging 9 PPG (16.3 per-36) and has shot 45.5% from three https://t.co/sRe9vJRGDZ

— Eric Spyropoulos (@EricSpyroNBA) March 9, 2026

With nearly $100 million annually committed to Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen, and with Keyonte George’s salary climbing to $28 million next season, finding legitimate NBA production at bargain rates will be critical for the Jazz.

Mykhailiuk will earn a modest $3.8 million this season, while Sensabaugh will make just under $5 million. Okogie is set to earn $6 million, while Green is arguably the Jazz’s most overpaid player at nearly $14.7 million in the final year of his contract.

None of the four has a guaranteed contract beyond this season.

Under his current deal, Hinson will make less than $700,000 this year and is set to become a restricted free agent next summer.

But, with an open roster spot available, the Jazz could convert Hinson’s two-way deal into a standard NBA contract before the end of the season, securing him before he reaches the market in July 2027.

Ultimately, the Jazz have no reason to rush a decision on Hinson, and will have all season to determine whether he can sustain this production over a larger sample size. As a result, he is probably an unlikely candidate for the opening-night rotation.

Still, if his elite shooting continues, the Jazz would be wise to lock him up on a long-term deal sooner rather than later.

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Parts of this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team.

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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 2-6pm with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.