NBA: Utah Jazz at Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers bucked a slow first half and the continued absence of starting point guard George Hill to beat the visiting Jazz. David West had 25 points to top-score for Indiana, which still has the best record in the league at 46-13. Paul George added 22 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists while back-up C.J. Watson had 13 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Reuters

Michael Jordan trolling the Utah Jazz once again even as a NBA owner.

Jordan’s Charlotte Hornets are trying to steal Gordon Hayward from the Jazz signing the 25-year-old forward to a four-year $63M offer sheet on Wednesday.

Hayward’s previous team, Utah have three days to match the contract if they want to retain him.

Reputable NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports broke the signing on Twitter.

Charlotte has agreed to a 4-year, $63M maximum offer sheet with Utah RFA Gordon Hayward, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 9, 2014

As with the NBA Collective Bargaining Rules (CBA), restricted free agents (RFA) like Hayward are forced to stay with their original team if they match the offer sheet tendered by another squad.

The Jazz are expected to exercise their right of first refusal and retain Hayward. However, there is a possibility that they don’t match if they deem the multi-year contract too much for the small forward.

Entering his fifth year as an NBA pro, Hayward’s stock rose after career-high numbers in the 2013-2014 season.

Utah was one of the worst teams in the league but Hayward was one of the few bright spots for the team averaging 16.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 77 games starting each one.

Jordan, the majority owner and chairman of the Hornets franchise is known as a Jazz-killer during his playing years.

He hit a game-winner over Utah in the 1998 NBA Finals that gave Jordan’s Chicago Bulls its sixth NBA championship. The season before, the same Bulls also defeated the Jazz team in the title game.

Will Utah bow down again to MJ and give away one of their promising stars? Or will they block him this time?