Realistic FA/Offseason Targets

[SoCalJazzFan]

Might as well discuss who the Jazz could possibly target in free agency this summer. The have cap space (a ton if Clarkson and/or THT leave) and a lot of picks to make a deal work.

[SoCalJazzFan]

Siakam's name has been tossed around a bit as the Raptors sound like they'll be taking calls for him. What would it cost to trade for him? Great player, but does his contract ($38M final year) and age (new contract will start at 30 yrs old and be in the $40M/season range) scare anyone off?

Another forward who could be avaible to sign from under the Nets is Cam Johnson (RFA). Rumor is that he could go to the Rockets for $22.5M/yr and that the Nets might not be able to afford to match. Cam recently turned 27 yrs old and just finished his 4th season.

While not exactly the same type of player, either of these guys would slot between Kessler and Markk. So, here are some stats to compare the two:

Lebron Stats (22/23):
Siakam=Overall Lebron +2.48, OLebron +1.93, DLebron +0.55 (overall 12th best Center for the season playing at least 700 mins)
Johnson= Overall Lebron +1.28, OLebron +0.70, DLebron +0.59 (overall 13th best PF for the season playing at least 700 mins)
Both are somewhat unique in that they both have positive offensive and defensive Lebron stats.

Stathead (22/23):
https://stathead.com/tiny/Pr3Zy

[zero24gravity]

to help the thread...

Assuming my quick online research is correct, these are the un-restricted FA's. Players with current team/player options aren't listed. (I don't like chasing restricted FA's.)


Sorted by 2022-23 salary:

Russell Westbrook
Kyrie Irving
D'Angelo Russell
Kevin Love
Nikola Vucevic
Harrison Barnes
Jerami Grant
Caris LeVert
Will Barton
Christian Wood

Brook Lopez
Kelly Oubre Jr.
Josh Richardson
Dillon Brooks
Dwight Powell
Jae Crowder
Dario Saric
Jakob Poeltl
Mason Plumlee
Seth Curry

Joe Ingles
Lonnie Walker IV
Hamidou Diallo
Kendrick Nunn
Cory Joseph
Torrey Craig
Ishmael Smith
Jeff Green
Justise Winslow
Terence Davis

George Hill
Alex Len
Georges Niang
Robin Lopez
Blake Griffin
Bismack Biyombo
Andre Iguodala
Udonis Haslem
Markieff Morris
Austin Rivers
Wesley Matthews

DeAndre Jordan
Taj Gibson
Dennis Schröder
T.J. Warren
JaMychal Green
Matthew Dellavedova
Trey Lyles
Udoka Azubuike
Frank Kaminsky
Raul Neto
Rodney McGruder

Jevon Carter
Dennis Smith Jr.
Damion Lee
Thomas Bryant
Danny Green
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
Aaron Holiday
Theo Pinson
Yuta Watanabe
Josh Okogie

Troy Brown Jr.
Drew Eubanks
Frank Ntilikina
Juan Toscano-Anderson
Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Moritz Wagner
Keita Bates-Diop
Gabe Vincent
Max Strus
Shake Milton

Jaylen Nowell
Jalen McDaniels
Naz Reid
Chimezie Metu
Oshae Brissett
Tristan Thompson
Wenyen Gabriel
James Johnson
Terrence Ross
Reggie Jackson

Gorgui Dieng
Dewayne Dedmon
Justin Holiday
Boban Marjanovic
Patrick Beverley
Cody Zeller
Goran Dragic
Meyers Leonard
D.J. Augustin
Willie Cauley-Stein
Ty Jerome

[SoCalJazzFan]

to help the thread...

Assuming my quick online research is correct, these are the un-restricted FA's. Players with current team/player options aren't listed. (I don't like chasing restricted FA's.)

Normally, I would agree with you as chasing an RFA means that you are tied up as potential UFAs get signed elsewhere. However, I don't really see any players on your UFA list that are desireable, make sense due to age or cost or would even consider signing with the Jazz. Other than signing signing a cheap, vet backup center, I don't see many, if any, unrestricted free agents that I would target it I were the Jazz, particularly for anything over MLE money.

[Jammer]

Strategy is a factor, but if you were going to give a guy $20M per year, would you give it to:

Jordan Clarkson

Austin Reaves (RFA who the Lakers will probably lowball unless he can get an offer sheet that he signs, and then forces the Lakers to make a decision whether they will match).

If the Jazz stay at 9 and draft a SG that would close the door on spending on an SG. But, if the Jazz either draft a PG at #9 or move into the top four and take a Forward (even Webanyama is a Forward, despite his height), then you might spend money on a Free Agent and the Clarkson /Austin Reaves choice is still there, although the Lakers might just match. But there was a report earlier today that Reaves might get 4 years / 60M from someone like Houston, then the Lakers might not match. I personally think that's disinformation to keep Reaves offers low because he's worth more and the Lakers don't want to have to match what he's truly worth with so much money tied up with LeBron, Davis and have to either re-sign or sign & trade De Angelo Russell.

[BigJimFinn]

Strategy is a factor, but if you were going to give a guy $20M per year, would you give it to:

Jordan Clarkson

Austin Reaves (RFA who the Lakers will probably lowball unless he can get an offer sheet that he signs, and then forces the Lakers to make a decision whether they will match).

If the Jazz stay at 9 and draft a SG that would close the door on spending on an SG. But, if the Jazz either draft a PG at #9 or move into the top four and take a Forward (even Webanyama is a Forward, despite his height), then you might spend money on a Free Agent and the Clarkson /Austin Reaves choice is still there, although the Lakers might just match. But there was a report earlier today that Reaves might get 4 years / 60M from someone like Houston, then the Lakers might not match. I personally think that's disinformation to keep Reaves offers low because he's worth more and the Lakers don't want to have to match what he's truly worth with so much money tied up with LeBron, Davis and have to either re-sign or sign & trade De Angelo Russell.

I wouldn't give Clarkson 20M unless it's for 1 year only, which he wouldn't likely take.
Reaves is nice, solid at everything guy, but I'm not yet convinced he's worth 20M either. 60/4 sounds realistic for him. The reason I wouldn't be keen for that deal is the general principle of not locking up long-term money on good-not-great guys until you have your stars, and Utah need to find another star, preferably a lead ballhandler/playmaker. Still, if the likeliest way to get a star is in a big trade, a contract like that moving the other way could even be useful.

A question for the locals: how important for Reaves' potential value to the Jazz would be the fit of his personal profile and possibly being happier in Utah than most FA's? I don't quite mean that he looks a bit like Horny, yet I kind of do...

[pickIBL]

I would think Danny would wheel and deal in this draft and use his space to take on contracts. In some cases to rebuild that players value and flip.

Mitchell and Gobert came from the draft. This is probably a draft rebuild for Utah. Got lucky with return on Mitchell and found an All Star

[AingesBurner]

Strategy is a factor, but if you were going to give a guy $20M per year, would you give it to:

Jordan Clarkson

Austin Reaves (RFA who the Lakers will probably lowball unless he can get an offer sheet that he signs, and then forces the Lakers to make a decision whether they will match).

If the Jazz stay at 9 and draft a SG that would close the door on spending on an SG. But, if the Jazz either draft a PG at #9 or move into the top four and take a Forward (even Webanyama is a Forward, despite his height), then you might spend money on a Free Agent and the Clarkson /Austin Reaves choice is still there, although the Lakers might just match. But there was a report earlier today that Reaves might get 4 years / 60M from someone like Houston, then the Lakers might not match. I personally think that's disinformation to keep Reaves offers low because he's worth more and the Lakers don't want to have to match what he's truly worth with so much money tied up with LeBron, Davis and have to either re-sign or sign & trade De Angelo Russell.

I’m all for Austin Reaves and he looks like a young Danny Ainge.

[zero24gravity]

Strategy is a factor, but if you were going to give a guy $20M per year, would you give it to:

Jordan Clarkson

Austin Reaves (RFA who the Lakers will probably lowball unless he can get an offer sheet that he signs, and then forces the Lakers to make a decision whether they will match).

If the Jazz stay at 9 and draft a SG that would close the door on spending on an SG. But, if the Jazz either draft a PG at #9 or move into the top four and take a Forward (even Webanyama is a Forward, despite his height), then you might spend money on a Free Agent and the Clarkson /Austin Reaves choice is still there, although the Lakers might just match. But there was a report earlier today that Reaves might get 4 years / 60M from someone like Houston, then the Lakers might not match. I personally think that's disinformation to keep Reaves offers low because he's worth more and the Lakers don't want to have to match what he's truly worth with so much money tied up with LeBron, Davis and have to either re-sign or sign & trade De Angelo Russell.

I’m all for Austin Reaves and he looks like a young Danny Ainge.

I can't claim to know a ton about Reeve's, outside of a few highlights, stats, and what I've seen of him vs the Jazz and during a couple playoff games ... but my take on him is that he's a low ceiling, borderline starter. Can be a nice piece for a team, but isn't a needle mover, therefore needs to be signed accordingly. Not one to throw a ton of long term money at. 4 years $60m seems on the high side to me, but I could be wrong, and I bet the market will give him that, if not more.

[bkohler]

I think Reeve's is definitely a starter, personally, and I think he'll get 4/80 money or basically, the same deal as JC will end up with. I think he's best as a PG.

[Jammer]

Well, here's the way I'd handle it. If you don't move up in the lottery (I somehow feel Webanyama belongs in Utah), even if you have Jordan Clarkson's Cap Hold and sign the rookies you'll have around $19.3 M to make an offer to a Free Agent, with Austin Reaves a possibility. If you make him the offer at the start of Free Agency negotiations, and give him like 12 hours to commit to Signing the Offer Sheet when signings can be made, the Lakers don't have a lot of time to finagle all their Sign & Trade possibilities, and you either get a signature x days later or you re-sign Clarkson with Bird Rights or another Free Agent of the Front Office's choosing.

If Reaves won't commit to signing in like 12 Hours you know he really doesn't want to be in Utah, but you then pull the offer (like it was never there), and he's back to negotiating with the Lakers based on what they want to pay him unless he has an Offer sheet from someone else that he wants to sign. His Agent will plead for more time but that just gives them a bargaining chip to throw in other teams faces. Either he wants to come or not. The Lakers will give lip service and he won't know their real intentions until the Free Agency period is over and how high they really want to go, but the Lakers do have the right to match any offer sheet for Reaves. Worst case is Reaves signs the Offer sheet, and the Lakers match. But Utah still has all that Cap Room, although Clarkson may be off the table by then. But sometimes you can get Free Agents to stand in line and be 2nd or 3rd option depending on how things play out. Clarkson could be told, if you were re-signing him, we'll give you this much if Reaves offer is matched by the Lakers.

But only 7 Teams are projected to have Cap Room and not need a Sign & Trade. The 7 Teams with Cap Room this summer are:

San Antonio
Houston (Clarkson lives in the Houston area, I believe, or at least owns several properties)
Utah
OKC
Detroit
Orlando
Indiana

[Inigo Montoya]

I'm not sure teams can pull the offer once it had been officially made. In fact, it was a tactic used by teams who were going to match the offer to wait until the very last moment in order to punish the team who made the offer and make them unable to make other moves because their cap space was tied for several days until the offer was matched or not.

[Jammer]

I'm not sure teams can pull the offer once it had been officially made. In fact, it was a tactic used by teams who were going to match the offer to wait until the very last moment in order to punish the team who made the offer and make them unable to make other moves because their cap space was tied for several days until the offer was matched or not.

No, you make the offer during the negotiating period before players can sign. You give him 12 hours to say whether he will sign once the period players can start signing contracts hits (a few days after the negotiating period opened). So, he can't use the offer as a bargaining chip because if he hasn't agreed within 12 hours you deny there was an offer, and he never gets the physical offer sheet to sign. He's got to committ during the negotiating period before players can actually sign contracts, but that 1rst day (opens around 3 or 5 PM, need a VERBAL committment by 9 AM the next day with no extensions). If you don't have the committment, you never present the actual offer sheet but look at other free agents. That's just being Smart. He can't jerk you around.

[zero24gravity]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/examining-the-fit-of-free-agent-christian-wood-on-the-jazz/ar-AA1aGLM3?ocid=hpmsn&pc=MDDS&cvid=2f35efa74d43471ca818488138f547fb&ei=9

Christian Wood as a Jazz target?

Draft Scoot (I'm manifesting this!), sign Wood. I mean, that alone would be a really nice-offseason, and would allow for a pretty solid 9 man rotation (I don't think JC is coming back). Just would need to add another solid big (draft).

Henderson
Agbaji
Markkanen
Wood
Kessler

Sexton
Olynyk
Dunn
THT
rookie big

[Inigo Montoya]

I'm not sure teams can pull the offer once it had been officially made. In fact, it was a tactic used by teams who were going to match the offer to wait until the very last moment in order to punish the team who made the offer and make them unable to make other moves because their cap space was tied for several days until the offer was matched or not.

No, you make the offer during the negotiating period before players can sign. You give him 12 hours to say whether he will sign once the period players can start signing contracts hits (a few days after the negotiating period opened). So, he can't use the offer as a bargaining chip because if he hasn't agreed within 12 hours you deny there was an offer, and he never gets the physical offer sheet to sign. He's got to committ during the negotiating period before players can actually sign contracts, but that 1rst day (opens around 3 or 5 PM, need a VERBAL committment by 9 AM the next day with no extensions). If you don't have the committment, you never present the actual offer sheet but look at other free agents. That's just being Smart. He can't jerk you around.

I think what you're describing may be tampering. Teams are not allowed to negotiate before the start of free agency, even though we all know they do.

The two issues I have are:

1. I like Reaves but I don't want to commit large salaries to role players before we get another star
2. I wouldn't risk a tampering charge for a player of Reaves caliber.

[bkohler]

I'm not sure teams can pull the offer once it had been officially made. In fact, it was a tactic used by teams who were going to match the offer to wait until the very last moment in order to punish the team who made the offer and make them unable to make other moves because their cap space was tied for several days until the offer was matched or not.

No, you make the offer during the negotiating period before players can sign. You give him 12 hours to say whether he will sign once the period players can start signing contracts hits (a few days after the negotiating period opened). So, he can't use the offer as a bargaining chip because if he hasn't agreed within 12 hours you deny there was an offer, and he never gets the physical offer sheet to sign. He's got to committ during the negotiating period before players can actually sign contracts, but that 1rst day (opens around 3 or 5 PM, need a VERBAL committment by 9 AM the next day with no extensions). If you don't have the committment, you never present the actual offer sheet but look at other free agents. That's just being Smart. He can't jerk you around.

I think what you're describing may be tampering. Teams are not allowed to negotiate before the start of free agency, even though we all know they do.

The two issues I have are:

1. I like Reaves but I don't want to commit large salaries to role players before we get another star
2. I wouldn't risk a tampering charge for a player of Reaves caliber.

This is also very much a strong-arm way to negotiate, and in the NBA keeping good relationships with agents matters. While you might be fine doing it to a player, the agent will have a long memory and loose lips about that encounter.

[Gert42]

I don't think Reaves takes a meeting here unless the contract offered is in the Collin Sexton range.

[zero24gravity]

https://www.si.com/nba/jazz/news/jazz-scouting-workout-nbl-kai-sotto

Not exactly a big name, but has great size. Connection to JC can't hurt. I mean, everyone needs to sign a Wemby(ish)-sized player now, right?


Some 2022 Draft info:

https://www.nbascoutinglive.com/kai-sotto-scouting-report/

[Wolverine]

https://www.si.com/nba/jazz/news/jazz-scouting-workout-nbl-kai-sotto

Not exactly a big name, but has great size. Connection to JC can't hurt. I mean, everyone needs to sign a Wemby(ish)-sized player now, right?


Some 2022 Draft info:

https://www.nbascoutinglive.com/kai-sotto-scouting-report/

Hell no, guy is useless.

[D Rog]

Looking for opinions. Are there guys in the league that are FAs or RFAs 28 years or younger that could play 30 minutes a night as the PG / combo guard for the Jazz and not break the bank? I don't think there is a star out there the Jazz can get as a PG without giving everything away. I also don't want to spend the 9th pick on a PG that may or may not be a long term solution... For some reason Trey Burkes (also taken as the #9 pick) comes to mind as an example how not to spend your #9 pick. I believe a guy named Giannis was taken about 6 picks later in that 2013 draft.

Donte DiVncenzo?
Gabe Vincent?
Coby White?