Its Time to Tank

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Wouldnt be shocked if Simone ask out of his contract to return to Europe. HE's just getting 0 run.

 

[LogGrad98]

Wouldnt be shocked if Simone ask out of his contract to return to Europe. HE's just getting 0 run.

Frankly he probably should. I wish we would play him more. Strikes me he could be good if given a better chance at it.

 

[Elizah Huge]

Wouldnt be shocked if Simone ask out of his contract to return to Europe. HE's just getting 0 run.

I could be wrong but I thought I heard the salary he was going to make in the NBA was extremely enticing. I bet he gets paid a lot more in the NBA than the league he was in.

 

[fishonjazz]

I mean its not super hard... We don't have to dump everyone... for example I'd say you keep JC unless you get a great offer. I think at this point I'd take back a minor asset for Conley/Gay/KO package if it meant we got an expiring salary. With that cap space you sign guys in the offseason or trade for guys that can benefit the team next year and in the medium term future. Beasley and Vando I'd be comfortable moving for some picks too. I bet we only do one trade... but even if we dumped Mike/KO/Gay/Beasley/Vando and didn't take back a player that will be on the roster next year you still have:

Building blocks
JC
Lauri
Kessler
Sexton

Young dev players
Ochai
Simone
3 first round picks

Other youngish vet rotation pieces
NAW
THT

With like 40M in space you can fill in the gaps with younger players that can play now fairly easily. Also leaves you development time. That's 11 roster spots already.

This. Great post. I would love to go into next off season like that. Add a few good free agents and draft well and we are going to the playoffs with guys who will actually be here in a few years when we are truly trying to contend.

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

I just want to say it was time to tank the moment we lost to Dallas in the playoffs last year. This pisses me off!!

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I could be wrong but I thought I heard the salary he was going to make in the NBA was extremely enticing. I bet he gets paid a lot more in the NBA than the league he was in.

that and if he breaks through and hits FA in 1.5 years he could be looking at like a $10M a year payday.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

This. Great post. I would love to go into next off season like that. Add a few good free agents and draft well and we are going to the playoffs with guys who will actually be here in a few years when we are truly trying to contend.

And this FA crop isn't great but there will be guys in their 20s that are functional role players available in the 8-15M range. Some guys I'd have interest in:

Tre Jones - Restricted and SA likely keeps him
Jalen McDaniels
Max Strus
Naz Reid
Gary Trent
Grant Williams - likely stays
Cam Johnson - likely stays
Josh Hart
Austin Reeves
Ayo Dosunmu
Javonte Green

There are some high end guys too but doubt we get in on those. Could grab 2 or 3 guys from the list above and have another building block going forward.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Also the higher you pick the better chance you have of getting a guy ready to play.

I don't think that is true at all. They might have higher upside but not ready to play. Usually the guys ready to play are taken late 1st round by good teams looking for role players and 4 year college players.

 

[Ron Mexico]

The problem with FA is Utah struggles to land guys and has to overpay a lot often especially for guys that we don't have their bird rights.

 

[Jingled]

The problem with FA is Utah struggles to land guys and has to overpay a lot often especially for guys that we don't have their bird rights.

Yep. That's why we're mostly going to have to build through trades and the draft. We got lucky with guys like Boozer, Memo and Bogey...we initially overpaid to get them to sign here, but they played so well that in the end their contracts were very fair for their production and not an overpay at all.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

The problem with FA is Utah struggles to land guys and has to overpay a lot often especially for guys that we don't have their bird rights.

If you ask NBA fans, like 95% will say their team has that problem (even Chicago, which is a huge market). Everyone likes to think all the premium free agents flock to a few cities (NY, LA, Miami) and give those teams all kinds of warm weather / big market discounts.

Obviously, that's far from the truth.

1) There ARE very few marquee free agents these days, the types who are real difference makers. That's the main reason everyone ends up overpaying meh dudes instead. It's not a Utah problem.

2) Guys will go where the money is and where they can get minutes to lay the base for their next contract. Winning is the third factor.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I don't think that is true at all. They might have higher upside but not ready to play. Usually the guys ready to play are taken late 1st round by good teams looking for role players and 4 year college players.

The bigger myth is drafting the nba ready guy… more talented players will produce earlier… the higher you draft the more talent you have access to. You can find raw guys at any point in the draft that are super long term projects.