Jazz Willing to Pay Tax

[erudite23]

I know this was mentioned in another thread, but I feel it deserves one of its own. It really is ground breaking news, as the biggest issues surrounding this team have revolved around whether or not we can afford to retain Millsap if Boozer, Memo and Kyle all pick up their POs.

Miller is now saying, definitively, that we WILL retain Millsap, regardless of what happens with the other stuff, the tax be damned.

As a word of caution, I would suggest that no one takes this to the bank as the Jazz being will-nilly about going over the line. Rather, this is simply a statement saying two things: 1) the Jazz are comitted to Millsap. They see him as a long-term solution at the PF position. It goes without saying that, if that be the case, Carlos really has no place here. They can afford to pay Millsap 5 or 6 million a year to be a key bench guy, but anything over that and he almost surely must be a starter, or at least be playing starter type minutes. This means that the Jazz are almost surely going to shop Boozer this season if he picks up his options or maybe sign him to an extension, let him play out the base-year-compensation stage of the deal and then look to shop him the following season after Millsap has seized the starting gig. More than anything, this declaration gives us the first clue as to how the Boozer-Millsap issue will fall. 2) The other key implication here is that the Jazz are not going to be intimidated by the prospect of going over the line...but that they will only do it as a last resort. Make no mistake, should the Jazz retain the 71 million of existing commitments and then add another 6-9m a year for Millsap, they will certainly be looking to cut payroll throughout next season, exploring any options available to either get below the line or minimize the damage.


Now, with all that said, this is still big news. Many on this site have looked at the 70m-ish mark as a hard cap for this organization, and have simply accepted as fact that its not even an option to cross that line. The news that its at least an option--even as a last resort--is still huge. I believe the Jazz are a tweak or two away from contention. Really, I believe this exact roster, brought back intact (with a possible upgrade at backup PG) and fully healthy will make a strong push for the conference crown next year. It would be a crying shame for the Jazz to walk away from that to save a few bucks.

Truly, this is great news.

[kebutah]

At this time of year any statement made must be weighed carefully. I am not certain that this is not just noise to keep other teams from driving up the price of Milsap. It could be an indication of the Jazz's long term plans or not. I do believe that they want Milsap as part of this team long term.

[JDubJazz]

I don't necessarily agree that the Jazz will absolutely go over the tax for 'Sap, but that they may, given their other options. For example, if Oklahoma City offers Millsap 5 years and 50 million, then I think the Jazz would just say, "ok," and let him walk. If they offered him 4 years and $24 million but that pushed the Jazz a couple of million into tax territory, then they probably match it.

In any case, the most interesting thing, in my opinion, is that the Jazz seem to be ready to move on from Carlos Boozer. I have really mixed feelings about this, because I think 'Sap has become terribly overrated over the last few months and I would rather see the Jazz let BOTH Booz and Sap walk than have Paul Millsap as my starting power forward.

[stevebozell]

I cant believe they would pay the luxury tax for an 8th seed. Paying the luxury tax to bring back the exact same team is NOT the good news.....but being willing to do that for a contending team is.

[kebutah]

I cant believe they would pay the luxury tax for an 8th seed. Paying the luxury tax to bring back the exact same team is NOT the good news.....but being willing to do that for a contending team is.

This is the key to the whole salary issue. I am not sure that this group of players is tough enough to compete at the top level.

[slambamJazz]

I read that Kover will opt out. That saves the jazz 5 million. I think Harping could retire and that saves about 7 million. I think Harping salary would count against the salary cap but not against the Luxury tax. If we redo Boozer and Okur salary then the jazz could also save a couple of million. That would save jazz 14 million and would put the jazz luxury tax number at about 57 million enough to resign Milsap plus first round pick and use our Mid level exemption.I least I hope that how the situation plays out.

[erudite23]

I cant believe they would pay the luxury tax for an 8th seed. Paying the luxury tax to bring back the exact same team is NOT the good news.....but being willing to do that for a contending team is.

There is a very simple, very obvious rebuttal to this. This EXACT SAME TEAM also won 54 games the year before and played a stretch of basketball that was nearly as good as any this franchise has ever seen. From January to April of 2008 was this team playing championship ball? If not, pretty close.

So equating a roster with a certain number of wins is stupid, when there are a myriad of different elements that impact how a team plays. I have an idea, let's ignore the fact that this team was the most severely injured team in the league, or that our two best players didn't play a single regular season game in top form, or that we were missing our third best guy entirely in the playoffs, or that our best defensive guy had to have mid season surgery and was never the same when he came back, or that....etc etc

...which is all not to say that something doesn't need to be done. I think if this exact team is brought back next year and has anything resembling decent fortune with injuries and internal team issues, then we win 53-60 games and are right in the mix for the LO trophy.

But whatever. The reality here is that the Jazz are at a nadir in the perpetual roller-coaster ride of an NBA team. If we lose sight of everything we've accomplished and dismantle what we've built now, there is going to be at least another 3-5 years of rebuilding--and that's if everything goes well--before we are back to where we were entering this season.

But, hey, if that's what it takes to teach certain idiots with certain opinions to respect "really good" as opposed to the all or nothing mindset that has pervaded this forum, then so be it.

[stevebozell]

But, hey, if that's what it takes to teach certain idiots with certain opinions to respect "really good" as opposed to the all or nothing mindset that has pervaded this forum, then so be it.

I think the "idiot" here is the one who sees our playoff success getting worse every year as a "roller coaster". Dont roller coasters also go up? Go ask another idiot if youre not sure.


Your personal attacks aside, this team proved ALOT when they were all healthy at the end of the year. And almost all of it was negative...but if you have your head in the sand and are happy with just having a team in the market instead of a team that truly wants to win a title, you wouldnt see it that way.

By the way....there is no such thing as "championship ball" being played in January...but again you wouldnt know that.

[erudite23]

I didn't say who was an idiot and who wasn't, just that they are out there. If the shoe fits...


As for roller coaster, if you don't see the 07-08 campaign as being much better and of higher elevation than the 06-07 one, then there isn't anything that can be done for you. We were not the second best team in the conference in the the 07 playoffs, but the beneficiaries of a stragne series of events that allowed us to get farther than our playing ability should have, as was born out in the actual series against the Spurs, in which we got mangled.

Last year, however, we were legitimately the second best team in the conference, even though we only made it to the second round, and we gave the Lakers everything they could handle. If not for a horrific first half in game 6, that series goes 7 and who knows...maybe we pull it out. So, yes, that would be an improvement.

More specifically, lets look at the last FIVE years.

04-05: 26-56

05-06: 41-41

Arrow: up

06-07: 51-31

Arrow: up

07-08: 54-28

Arrow: up

08-09: 48-34

Arrow: down


That's three straight years of significant-to-massive improvement, followed by a year in which we took a step back and fell off a little....BECAUSE WE WERE THE MOST INJURED TEAM IN THE NBA.

I know you live to criticize, and that you're parasitic nature thrives on negativity, but there is no way within the realm of logic and reason that you can justify your statement based upon the actual, genuine quality of this team. Whether or not the down turn is the beginning of a long descent or just a dip on the eventual path to the top is impossible to foresee.

What I do know is that our management team has taken a small market team without a single star when Malone and Stock left and given us just one losing season, three playoff berths, an All-Time PG, two other All-Stars, a slew of quality role players, 3 playoff round victories and two division titles and done it all with the help of just a SINGLE top 13 pick, all while maintaining a bottom 5-7 payroll in the league.

I don't care who you are, that's damn impressive. We haven't done it by luck, or the bounce of a ping-pong ball, or superior resources, just through quality, shrewd manuevering and intelligence. So we haven't won a championship. Wow. That's the same boat that 26 other teams have been in over that same period of time, including the Los Angeles Lakers, the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks.

Spare me the bull ****. This team has accomplished a lot, and just because things went south really badly at the end of the year doesn't mean we should turn around and piss all over everything we've done to get to this point...just so guys like you can see a head rolling on the ground as a means of making them feel better about their frustration; just so that you can have your revenge.

You won't get what you want, and that will just make you even more bitter, even more cynical and quick to point out every stumble along the road...and chances are, in the end, you will be right. The Jazz likely will not win a ring. The odds say as much. And because they DON'T do what you in your almighty God given wisdom say they should, no one will be able to say that you were wrong, which will likely keep you feeling warm and fuzy at night, sleeping alone in your bed.

Me and mine, in the meantime, will just continue to love our team, hope for the best in every move they make, and support them even when we don't agree with them.

Something tells me, in th end, I'll enjoy my road more than you will enjoy yours.

[idajazz]

now thats telling him!!!!!!!!

I think a tweek here and a tweek there and this team is off and running.
I absolutely love what Miller had to say, I think he See's the problems and was straight up about them.
Injuries Killed us, The writing was on the wall the second Deron sprained his ankle.

If this team can stay healthy, at least a league average healthy, and avoid locker room strife.
Sky is the limit.

[stevebozell]

Something tells me, in th end, I'll enjoy my road more than you will enjoy yours.

You can enjoy alot when your head is in the sand.

[loserX]

I cant believe they would pay the luxury tax for an 8th seed. Paying the luxury tax to bring back the exact same team is NOT the good news.....but being willing to do that for a contending team is.

I assumed his comments to mean: we will pay the luxury tax to keep Millsap if we have to, i.e. nobody opts out. If any of the big money guys opt out, it's likely that we wouldn't have to pay the tax to keep Millsap anyway.

So the alternatives in this context are paying the luxury tax and keeping Millsap, or not paying the tax and losing Millsap. It has little to do with the makeup of the team, most of which is beyond our control because of the opt-outs. I'm happy to hear they're at least considering the former.