Who do the Jazz wave(goodbye to)?

[DelaneyRudd]

I agree it's a slightly different scenario than at the face value.

[Jazzfan12]

Kirilenko probably won't be back and Harris is always injured though.

[carrottop12]

The strangeness of losing deron and Sloan with in a week of each other, and not being able to have a training camp while still adding a new coach and 2 new rotation guys cost the jazz a good 5 games or so during those last 30 games.

However that only makes the jazz a .500 team and no way we make the playoffs with .500 ball.

I could see the jazz bringing in 2 minimum salary guys, but if that is the case you've essentially mailed in the season before it started. Having a back up pg that is a minimum salary guy just so you can avoid the luxury tax doesn't sound like a team trying to make the playoffs.

[DelaneyRudd]

It cost 5 games last year, but it doesn't account for Favors and Hayward playing with plays just for them. It's not worth 30 games, but it's worth 15 or so.

[carrottop12]

It's hard to really put tabs on the Jazz.

I could see them coming out in a shortened season and being one of the 4-5 best teams in the West who get by on an attitude of hard work which catches teams off guard in a shortened season, or they could struggle like they did at the end of last year, and eventually our vets will quit knowing the season is coming to a quick end and we'll be lottery bound.

[StocktonShorts]

Depending on how things shake out, the smartest move may be to waive Jefferson if the Jazz can't find any takers. His deal is massive and the Jazz have lots of other (cheaper, younger, smarter) options at his position.

[carrottop12]

I don't think the Jazz would waive their best player.

[Jazzfan12]

But he's not at all. I doubt they waive him since they won't pay him to go away, but I could them trading him for cap space if they can (which may not happen since the Jazz were the only team to offer even a trade exception last year)

[DelaneyRudd]

Depending on how things shake out, the smartest move may be to waive Jefferson if the Jazz can't find any takers. His deal is massive and the Jazz have lots of other (cheaper, younger, smarter) options at his position.

The player still gets paid. What ever he's getting paid is not so his value that it's worth it more to pay him not to play.

[StocktonShorts]

Depending on how things shake out, the smartest move may be to waive Jefferson if the Jazz can't find any takers. His deal is massive and the Jazz have lots of other (cheaper, younger, smarter) options at his position.

The player still gets paid. What ever he's getting paid is not so his value that it's worth it more to pay him not to play.

I'm talking cap & tax dollars, not wages & benefits.

I'm not sure it's wise to take up 1/4 the capspace of a rebuilding team on a guy like Al. In a smaller, harder cap the Jazz might have a hard time filling out a competitive roster without going into the luxury tax unless they ditch him.

Right now the Jazz are at $57M (assuming they pick up CJ's option) for 8 players, not including Kanter, Burks or Evans. Without a CBA it's tough to know what the rookie scale will be like, so let's pencil in numbers based on the current CBA: $4M for Kanter, $2M for Burks, and $1M for Evans.

Now we're at $64M for 11 guys. The new CBA will require AT LEAST 13 players per team, so even $64M might be low.

The salary cap last year was $58M. You think we're going to have a bigger cap next year? Not a chance. There's going to be a harder, smaller cap with tougher luxury tax penalties. One of the proposed penalties is that a team that has paid luxury tax X years in a row gets hit harder. Do we know any team like that? Hmm...

So you say "But what about salary rollbacks?" That would be great, but I think it's MUCH more likely we see an amnesty provision and the reduction of the MLE. I don't think the players association will EVER consent to a leaguewide rollback of existing contracts.

The ideal situation would be to trade Al Jefferson for a TPE. But if they can't find a taker for him, I can certainly envision scenarios where it makes sense for the health of the franchise to waive him rather than have him eat up their cap space and push them toward luxury tax land.

Really, knowing what we know now (D-Will gone, Jerry retired) it would've been better to just let Boozer's TPE expire and not get Al. The Jazz would be going into this brave new harder-capped world as buyers instead of sellers.

[nghedman]

I hope they don't let Jefferson go. I don't think the Jazz are as bad as you are suggesting with a "re-building" situation they are in.

Lots of last years losses I feel were due to the turmoil within the organization and normal change, not so much from the skill level drop we saw. I mean if the Jazz were in the east they would have made the playoffs. Counting their last 30 games they only won 8 of those. If the Jazz won 11 of those 22 games they lost, they would have been seeded 5th in the west which in my mind was very practical.

I think the Jazz are a lot better than a "building year" team that is being alluded to and they only need to let go of a player they need to get rid of anyways.

[Bensational]

since the current FA crop isn't outrageously good, Utah isn't poised to win the 'ship, and this coming season will be shortened - could Utah explore expiring contracts for AJ/Millsap?

that would mean going into NEXT offseason the Jazz would be well enough under the cap to go chasing top tier FAs.

[StocktonShorts]

I'd love to trade AJ for an expiring contract.

[Bensational]

i'd imagine that if Denver can't get Nene to resign they'd consider absorbing AJ with their abundance of capspace.

[Amish Mafioso]

Right now the Jazz are at $57M (assuming they pick up CJ's option) for 8 players, not including Kanter, Burks or Evans. Without a CBA it's tough to know what the rookie scale will be like, so let's pencil in numbers based on the current CBA: $4M for Kanter, $2M for Burks, and $1M for Evans.

Now we're at $64M for 11 guys. The new CBA will require AT LEAST 13 players per team, so even $64M might be low.

The salary cap last year was $58M. You think we're going to have a bigger cap next year? Not a chance. There's going to be a harder, smaller cap with tougher luxury tax penalties..

The luxury tax didn't kick in until 70 million last year. By my count Utah will have 62 million committed to 11 players.