State Of The Cap: Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz 
Grade: B-
2009/10 Payroll: $72 million
Highlights: Next season, Deron Williams’s four-year, $63.7 million contract extension kicks in, which means the Jazz will no longer be able to enjoy his services for the cheap rate of his rookie deal. However, there is little doubt that Williams will be able to earn that contract considering the way he has played the past two years. He once again set career highs in points and assists with 19.4 and 10.7, respectively, and shot an excellent 47.1% from the field. His three point shooting was down a lot from last year, but that shouldn’t be a concern, at least for now. To be a good team in this league, you’ve got to have a top-notch point guard and Utah has one for four more seasons.
Ronnie Brewer has developed into the best bargain on the team. For just $2.7 million next year, the Jazz get a guy who averaged 13.7 points, 3.7 boards, 2.2 assists, and 1.7 steals on 50.9% shooting. Brewer is a highly efficient player and he compliments the rest of the starters quite well. Next season is the final year of his contract and the team would be wise to extend it before his price goes up even higher.
CJ Miles is paid a little more than Brewer but he still gives Utah good value for his contract. Miles will receive $3.7 million each of the next three years (the final year is a team option). For that, Miles produces 9.1 points a game as a starter and shoots a decent percentage from the field. In order to keep a team together, you’ve got to get good value out of the contracts of your role players and that is what Utah has in Miles.
Lowlights: Contracts don’t get much worse than Andrei Kirilenko’s, so you can understand why the Jazz haven’t been able to unload him to another team. The $16.4 and $17.8 million he is owed the next two seasons is ridiculous. That is what you pay LeBron and Kobe to lead your teams to a championship; it’s not what you pay your fourth best forward. Kirilenko averaged a mediocre 11.6 points and 4.8 rebounds, he doesn’t block shots as much as he used to, his shooting percentages were down this year, he mostly comes off the bench, and he missed 15 games due to injury. Does that sound like a player you want making $34 million over two years? Not even close. After enduring his crazy salary for one more season, the Jazz should finally be able to get rid of Kirilenko in 2010 as a soon-to-be expiring contract.
Even though Matt Harpring has fallen to the status of little-used sub it won’t stop him from making $6.5 million next season. Harpring’s stats, which consist of 4.4 points and 2 rebounds per game, are the worst of his 11-year career. Unless he can find a bigger role in the rotation, Harpring will not be able to earn his contract.
The Future: The Utah Jazz recently dodged a bullet. In fact, they dodged two of them when Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur both declined to become free agents and instead exercised their player options for next season. Boozer will collect $12.6 million and Okur will take in $9 million. Both players are well worth the money and will keep Utah in contending status for at least one more year. Boozer is a 20 and 10 guy when healthy and Okur’s excellent three point shooting (44.6%) is a rare find in a big man. These two forwards compliment each other well and it was vital for the Jazz that they return.
However, there is a downside to Boozer and Okur returning. For one, this pretty much closes the book on Paul Millsap’s career in Utah. The team is now well over the cap for next season and will not be able to afford adding another sizable contract. Millsap was an emerging talent who put up 13.5 points and 8.6 rebounds last year. Losing him won’t hurt as much in 2009/10, but it could hurt a lot down the road. Boozer and Okur will now be on the open market next summer when there will be a lot more competition from teams that have cut their costs. It is likely that the Jazz could lose either Boozer or Okur (or both) and they won’t have Millsap waiting in the wings to take their place. Deron Williams’s supporting cast could be weakening very soon.
Andrei Kirilenko’s contract will be a major hassle next summer. Utah’s most important task this year will be to try and shed his sour deal and cut costs. With Kirilenko’s contract out of the way, they’ll have a clean slate to work with in the 2010 free agency session. But with AK-47’s contract taking up valuable space, the team could see their contender status drop significantly as more and more players leave town. They proved that they have enough talent to play at a championship level. Now they must prove they can keep the team together that looked like it was primed for multiple playoff runs.
