AtheistPreacher
Well-Known Member
Next offseason is the one we've been waiting for... AK's albatross of a contract, worth $17 million this year, will finally be coming off the books. I'm torn both in what I think should be done with him *and* what I think will be done with him.
It seems there are three basic options:
1. Trade him for an impact player. In this case the Jazz would almost certainly look to attain a player making as little as possible while still within the 25% + $100,000 necessary for a trade. That would mean luxury tax again in future years, but I'm not sure management is willing to do that after this season. I think it more likely they had AK's contract in mind when they agreed to be tax-payers for the second year in a row. If they can, they may try to trade AK for other expiring contracts worth less in total to alleviate their LT hit. If they are willing to go into LT territory yet again, I'm sure there would be suitors for an expiring contract of that size.
2. Re-sign him (obviously, for much less). I wouldn't mind having the guy back. Just not for $17 million. I don't think I'd give me more than $7 million, max. Too many injuries and not enough consistency.
3. Let him go and keep the cap space. If they could get a trade exception like they did for Boozer, they could possibly bring in another impact player (actually, I don't know the rule on this... does the 25% rule apply for trade exceptions? Could the Jazz trade for a player getting $8 million, or does it need to be $13 million or more? I believe this is okay). They could also just look to sign someone in free agency, although they'll still be over the cap, so they'd likely need to use some kind of exception.
I suppose in the end I think we should look to replace Andrei's salary with a player in the $7 million-$9 million range, someone who will really make a difference but won't paralyze us financially. Whether that's AK back or someone else, I can't really say right now until we see who it's possible to get. But with Deron and Jefferson and Millsap under contract for a bundle, I don't think we can or should go after a $17 million superstar.
It seems there are three basic options:
1. Trade him for an impact player. In this case the Jazz would almost certainly look to attain a player making as little as possible while still within the 25% + $100,000 necessary for a trade. That would mean luxury tax again in future years, but I'm not sure management is willing to do that after this season. I think it more likely they had AK's contract in mind when they agreed to be tax-payers for the second year in a row. If they can, they may try to trade AK for other expiring contracts worth less in total to alleviate their LT hit. If they are willing to go into LT territory yet again, I'm sure there would be suitors for an expiring contract of that size.
2. Re-sign him (obviously, for much less). I wouldn't mind having the guy back. Just not for $17 million. I don't think I'd give me more than $7 million, max. Too many injuries and not enough consistency.
3. Let him go and keep the cap space. If they could get a trade exception like they did for Boozer, they could possibly bring in another impact player (actually, I don't know the rule on this... does the 25% rule apply for trade exceptions? Could the Jazz trade for a player getting $8 million, or does it need to be $13 million or more? I believe this is okay). They could also just look to sign someone in free agency, although they'll still be over the cap, so they'd likely need to use some kind of exception.
I suppose in the end I think we should look to replace Andrei's salary with a player in the $7 million-$9 million range, someone who will really make a difference but won't paralyze us financially. Whether that's AK back or someone else, I can't really say right now until we see who it's possible to get. But with Deron and Jefferson and Millsap under contract for a bundle, I don't think we can or should go after a $17 million superstar.
