Blake Hinson scored 14 points in 17 minutes of Utah’s preseason opener against Denver, then gave the most memorable postgame interview of the week.
“I can help however. I can go get coffee. I can maybe make a shot. I can talk to somebody. I can watch your dog. I just want to be a part of the program,” Hinson said.
That is a 26-year-old on a two-way deal telling you exactly how badly he wants to stay.
The Game Backed It Up
Hinson shot 5-of-8 against the Nuggets, including 4-of-5 from three, and pulled six rebounds in those 17 minutes. That is not a guy begging. That is a guy making the case and then being funny about it.
He has done this before. In 14 NBA games with Utah last season he averaged 11.9 points on 51.3 percent shooting and 46.8 percent from three. Those are tiny samples and they are also absurd numbers for a player nobody drafted.
The Path Here Was Not Short
Hinson started at Ole Miss, transferred to Pittsburgh, and put up 16.8 points a game across two seasons there on 40.1 percent from three. His senior year he averaged 18.5 points while shooting 42.1 percent from deep. He went undrafted in 2024.
Then came the G League circuit: Santa Cruz in Golden State’s system, then Portland’s affiliate. Utah signed him to a two-way contract in February 2026.
What a Two-Way Actually Means Here
One clarification, because the framing of this story keeps getting it wrong. Hinson is on a two-way deal worth under $700,000, not an Exhibit 10, and two-way contracts do not count against the 15 standard roster spots. He is not one of the players Utah has to cut.
The Jazz crunch is separate: 16 players for 15 standard spots, with roster limits dropping Oct. 19 at 4 p.m. CT. Harrison Ingram is on an Exhibit 10 and Mo Bamba has only $200,000 guaranteed at signing plus another $500,000 if he survives into the regular season. Those two are the likeliest cuts.
What Hinson is actually playing for is a conversion to a standard contract, which would make him a restricted free agent in the summer of 2027, and for minutes in a wing rotation that already includes Svi Mykhailiuk, Brice Sensabaugh, Josh Green and Josh Okogie, with the organization prioritizing rookie Darryn Peterson and second-year wing Ace Bailey.
Convert Him
KSL has reported the expectation is Hinson spends most of the year with the Salt Lake City Stars. That would be a mistake worth making only if Utah is certain it cannot find him minutes.
A 26-year-old who shoots 46.8 percent from three in NBA games, plays hard, and publicly offers to run errands is the cheapest useful player on a rebuilding roster. Utah is not competing for anything this season. Give him the spot and find out.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.