The Utah Jazz and shooting guard Rodney Hood have engaged in contract extension talks, according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Following the departure of cornerstone Gordon Hayward to the Boston Celtics at the start of free agency, the team has hoped for Hood to become the leading perimeter scorer after two consistent seasons scoring in double digits.

Hayward's exit leaves a gaping hole at the scoring end and Hood's attempts can go from the 11.3 he got last season to 18 or 19 per game if he proves to be more effective than his 41.5 percent career-accuracy from the field.

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Hood, along with Dante Exum, are the two players entering their fourth season in the league and are now eligible for a rookie-scale contract extension.

If neither guard can reach a deal, they will enter restricted free agency next summer, where they can receive offers from any other team in the league, but ultimately giving the Jazz an opportunity to match the offer.

Utah is expected to allow Exum to become a restricted free agent unless he is willing to sign a team-friendly deal similar to Alec Burks, who extended for $10 million annually in 2014.

Both Hood and Exum are expected to have an increased role with the team, but the latter has had an injury-plagued history that has concerned the organization internally. Hood only played in 59 games last season and despite starting out the year in full-go, struggled to keep up his consistency after returning from injury.

The 24-year-old has been working closely with the coaching staff and hoping to put a troubling hyperextended knee injury past him after never really full healing from it in 2016-17.

Hood averaged 12.7 points over 27 minutes per game, shooting a career-high 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.