How much are Utah's FAs worth?

[Bullet]

Just found out that the max for signing a free agent under 6 years of experience is $9M (or 25% of the cap). For a vet with 7-9 seasons played, the amount shifts to $11M (or 30% of the cap).
Source: http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q11

Given the facts, how much would you offer Boozer, Wes, Korver, Yatta and Fes in the offseason (if at all)? I would like to see all of them returning to Utah for next season. But with Boozer commanding max or close to max salary (around $15M?), I doubt the Jazz re-sign him, unless Memo or AK gets traded.

In my opinion:

Boozer - $12-13M
Wes - less than 3M
Korver - I'll match him with CJ's (3.7M) but with a 10% annual increase.
Fes - 1-2M
Yatta - league minimum

[drivewayball]

Fesenko will get much more than that from somebody. You have guys like DeSagna Diop and Nazr Mohammed out there pulling down $6-7 million. The Jazz won't pay him because the Jazz don't play him, but somebody would be happy to pony up three years and $10 million for Fesenko. Mathews=about the minimum. Korver I'd agree on.

[seejaydeja]

Fesenko will get much more than that from somebody. You have guys like DeSagna Diop and Nazr Mohammed out there pulling down $6-7 million. The Jazz won't pay him because the Jazz don't play him, but somebody would be happy to pony up three years and $10 million for Fesenko. Mathews=about the minimum. Korver I'd agree on.

I disagree unless Fes keeps up the production hes had over the past 3 games, and gets the PT to do so.

Right now he's put together the best streak of his career, but who's to say he won't revert back to the same old Fes next week? Teams aren't gonig to be willing to pony up 3-4 million for a guy with such an inconsistent track record.

[StocktonShorts]

Fesenko will get much more than that from somebody. You have guys like DeSagna Diop and Nazr Mohammed out there pulling down $6-7 million.

I think those guys are exactly why Fesenko WON'T get that kind of money. In the current climate I doubt anyone is going to overspend on a big man who may or may not be a regular NBA player.

[jazzfan1971]

I dunno. The economic climate of the NBA is in flux.

Gonna be a LOT of buyers out there though. That should push prices up. But, with the new CBA coming out I imagine a lot of teams will be frugal. Big market teams will probably have a significant advantage over small market teams this year as they'll be more able to overpay.

This is why I don't expect Boozer back. I think he'll get a max type offer from a big market team with lots of cap space. Probably one that missed out on one of the top tier names and is trying to salvage something from all that cap room. I think the Jazz will be more conservative and figure that Millsap and whoever they draft (assuming a big) will be able to handle the load economically until the new CBA is here.

Further, it's clear to me that the Jazz hate long contacts over large ones. So, I expect them to try to match offers to some of the smaller pieces with large but short deals. You might see a guy like Korver get a larger than expected deal, but, for only 1 or 2 years.

That's how I see the Jazz approaching free agency anyway. Not being a serious suitor for Boozer unless his cost is low or we go to the finals, and focusing on 1 or 2 year deals otherwise.

[Bullet]

If Utah goes deep in the playoffs, and Wes, Fes, and Korver play their butts out, I see them commanding much more than what I posted. Fes may get a contract offer similar to Gortat (assuming a dumbass GM gambles and overrates him) but not more. Korver may get the full MLE, but that would be max. I don't see him making more than his current 5M salary. And Boozer may get the max at ~15M. The real "concern" is how much other teams offer for Wes. IMO, splitting the MLE between Wes and KK would be ideal for Utah.

The Jazz are in for a wild summer. So many possibilities. The only sure thing is top brass' unwillingness to go (way) into luxury tax territory.

[DelaneyRudd]

I think Korver will not be expensive anywhere. Wes will be matched like Millsap. Fes might get over paid, or treated fairly and rewarded, either way. GMs aren't owners. They get owner power since they are experts, but won't allow themselves to get fired by sitting around doing nothing. They'd rather be fired for doing too much. They are like Democrats.

[@ndrew]

You're kidding yourself if you think that Fess will get something close to Gortat...

[DelaneyRudd]

Fes will be an interesting case. I think he will be a solid center as good as Gortat, but it's a gamble.

[drivewayball]

Players get overrated and overpaid all the time! Just look at every team and see the ridiculous contracts ... and the average fan even knew they were ridiculous contracts when they were signed!


Why is NO struggling so much? Peterson, Peja, Posey ... dumb contracts!

At least half of Utah fans just shook their heads (sideways, not up and down) when Okur was extended. That kind of thing will evidently just keep on happening all over the league.

[mark53]

assuming we get a top 8 pick, and take a sg or sf i dont think there is any chance korver gets brought back with miles on the books for 4mil plus and the team that high on wes. If we take a big then fes will be gone unless he is cheap because of memo's 10mil and sapp's 6mill. no way all three are back.

[HammerDunk]

The problem is, Korver has won us more games this year than CJ and Wes. His shooting is off the charts, but his defense has been a liability. Coach can usually find someone for him to matchup with that isn't that quick, and he does alright, until he has to switch onto someone with athletic ability. Even with his defensive liabilities, I would rather have him coming off the bench than CJ.

[hoops4life]

Korver's FT's at the end of the game are pretty valuable. He is pretty clutch.

[Bullet]

Here's something interesting:

AK, D-Will, Memo, Sap, CJ, Kouf and Price are a combined $55,840,979 for next season. If we bring back Booz at the max (say 15M), split the MLE (~5M) between KK and Wes, and sign Fes and Yatta at less than 2M combined, we'll be looking at 77M+. Not far from this year's team salary of 74M.

Even if we get the #1 pick, that'll just add 3M. Which is somewhere close to what we had at the start of this year (with Matt, Maynor and Brewer's salary) of 81M. If things don't go well, we can ship either AK or Memo before the trade deadline to shave salaries.

[babyjax13]

I think Boozer is a $13-15 million type player, most likely on the lower end of that spectrum. Mathews will get 3-4 million depending on how the 2nd half of this year plays out, and Korver 3-5 million.

[DelaneyRudd]

They need 13 players, so some 700k minimum guy will have to round out the team.

When you put out those numbers it makes the fact that they got a first rounder for Brewer that could be a teens pick fairly respectable.

[maccca32]

IMO, splitting the MLE between Wes and KK would be ideal for Utah.

I completely agree. Wing players are the last players you want to overpay. I think Jazz would like to bring them both back but only on their terms.

I would say offer KK 4y/13M (3.25 per) though I would prefer to have A.Parker and he is making less with the Cavs.

For Wes I would only offer 1 or 2 yr deal at not more than 1.5M per.

I think Matthews himself proves there is no reason to overpay for a wing players.

Now Boozer and Fes.

Fes is young so someone will sign him this summer. The Jazz have had three years and know how much they value him. Personally, I doubt he plays for Utah next year.

I wasnt in a hurry to trade Boozer and to be honest his value was always going to be highest this summer with a sign and trade unless a team under the cap signs him. It is highly unlikely he is in a Jazz uniform next year. Only happens if the Jazz push the Lakers all the way in the conference finals these playoffs. Like I said unlikely.

[carrottop12]

Korver will be brought back. Boozer will be offered 13 mil I would say at max by the Jazz, but some other team will likely offer more.

The pick is extremely important for the Jazz future.

[jozef]

I present my complete off-season plan:

Draft
I think Aldrich's flat shooting is no-go in the NBA and his athleticism is not jaw-dropping. My opinion is based on two-minute youtube clip from previous season. And I don't know if there is other center worth of #6 pick. So my goal for draft is to find a future replacement for Andrei Kirilenko, my guess: AK will get better offer from Russian Nets owner. I was impressed with Al-Farouq Aminu, based also on youtube clip from previous season. And draft most athletic PF/C available with second round pick.

Re-signing
Boozer, Matthews, Fesenko and Gaines need to be back, they are athletic and skilled to fill roles. Boozer for 15 M , Matthews and Fesenko for 3+ M per year, Gaines for 2 M per year. They knew the system, and they are in good physical shape and skilled to earn most of their money (in contrary signing AK to max or Memo to 10.5 M extension were high-risk decisions). Contracts for Matthews, Fesenko and Gaines could be backloaded to escape from paying luxury tax in next season.

Trades
Okur needs to be traded to stay under luxury tax area. Maybe it could be done as a part of sign-and-trade of Boozer in 3-team deal and I could see a GM could think that he would be good sidekick to Duncan or maybe Bosh or something. Signing Memo to extension was moronic decision and dump him for nothing will be the toughest part of my plan.
The other need is trade AK for smaller contracts, and sheding 6-7 M in that trade is what we can hope for. Say, for Tayshaune Prince (it does put a pressure on Fesenko) or Dalembert (maybe too much pressure on SG/SF injury-wise and slowing down Fesenko's development). So the best option could be the splitting of 11 millions between 2 players (SG/SF and PF/C) at midlevel contracts. In this scenario we could re-sign Korver (4.0 M) and the wanted PF/C could be Ronny Turiaf (4.0 M) or Jeff Foster (6.6 M). The cheaper version with Turiaf would allow us to match higher bids for Gaines, Matthews and Fesenko.

Payroll 2010/11 (65.0 M):
PG Williams 14.9, Gaines 2.0, Price 1.4
SG/SF Korver 4.0, Miles 3.7, Aminu 3.6, Matthews 3.5, draft-pick/free-agent 0.7
PF/C Boozer 15.0, Millsap 6.2, Turiaf 4.0, Fesenko 4.0, Koufos 1.3, draft-pick/free-agent 0.7

[Bullet]

Knowing the Jazz front office, they will unload one of their big contracts this summer (AK, Memo, Millsap?) or let Boozer walk away to avoid paying luxury tax. If I were them, I'd prioritize re-signing Boozer, even if it means max salary. Why? Look at their big contract guys. IMO, only Boozer can bring them to elite status. I say trade Memo + the NY pick for a (reasonably-priced) veteran wing or big, and a lower 2010 pick to free up some cap space. If we can do that, we get to keep AK for next season and hope he re-signs at a cheaper price (as he stated) in 2011.