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At last, a step is skipped.

That's a refreshing development around here. By trading the No. 12 pick in Thursday's NBA draft for veteran guard George Hill, the Jazz are deviating just enough from their gradual rebuilding plan to make the 2016-17 season even more interesting. The arrival of Hill himself from Indiana is not as significant on the court as what the deal symbolizes: The Jazz are ready to start keeping score.

General manager Dennis Lindsey has spoken incessantly about not skipping steps in the team's rebuilding process. That stance became both admirable and tiresome. Having a steady approach and sticking to that plan are good traits, but Jazz fans deserve some payoff for their patience. And it needed to come sooner than the originally targeted delivery date.

The Jazz absolutely have to make the playoffs this season, and they have to be competitive once they get there. Adding a veteran instead of a rookie from the middle of the first round is exactly what I wrote this week that the Jazz should do. Maybe that's frightening to you. To me, it is healthy, encouraging and rewarding to the ticket-buyers at Vivint SmartHome Arena, having the whole process accelerated.

The biggest moves the Jazz make this summer — and there's more to come, certainly — should be designed to make them better this season, even at some expense of the future. That's what I like about this deal.

Who cared about another draft party in June? The Jazz need to put an upgraded product on the court in October, and this will help. Lindsey put himself in a position where all of his future-oriented building enabled him to do something for short-term gain. All the evidence anyone needs to approve this trade is that Hill is more valuable right now than anyone the Jazz might have drafted at No. 12.

If the three-team deal had sent point guard Jeff Teague from Atlanta to Utah instead of Indiana, that would have been better. And some remorse about the Jazz's trading out of the first round could come into play if former University of Utah center Jakob Poeltl remains available at No. 12.

But Poeltl couldn't have done as much for the Jazz in 2016-17 as Hill will do, and just being able to evaluate the trade on that basis is a fun discussion.

Even if Hill plays himself into a nice free-agent deal somewhere else next summer at age 31 and this becomes only a one-year arrangement, the Jazz will have advanced their cause. And if this proves to be a good fit for everybody, Hill likely will re-sign with the team.

So the Spursifcation of the Jazz continues — with Lindsey, coach Quin Snyder and, presumably, the starting point guard all having San Antonio ties. I've followed Hill's career ever since noticing him in his days at the hometown Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, with IUPUI regularly facing Southern Utah in the Summit League.

In the NBA, he has steadily improved as a 3-point shooter, filling a Jazz need. He played shooting guard in his three years in San Antonio and moved to the point with Indiana. Paired with the 6-foot-6 Dante Exum, Hill (6-3) logically can play both backcourt spots and give Snyder's offense another scorer — one with 75 playoff games of experience.

The next question is what becomes of Raul Neto or Shelvin Mack. Trey Burke clearly will be traded, one way or another, but the Jazz remain overloaded at point guard. Regardless, they're going to end up with capable players at the position — and if that means Mack is back at No. 3 on the depth chart, where he was with Atlanta before the Jazz acquired him in February, that will be a good sign.

The role of Gordon Hayward's former Butler teammate might be diminished or he may be gone altogether, but Hayward should be encouraged that the Jazz are speeding up their overall development for his benefit.

Hayward needed offensive help, and he's getting it, via another Indianapolis-area native. He should recognize that management is determined win enough games in 2016-17 to make him want to re-sign with the Jazz next summer, when he can become a free agent.

Hill's arrival sends a positive message to Hayward and everybody else who has stuck with the Jazz during these last four non-playoff years. This team is getting better, and sooner.

Twitter: @tribkurt