- The Jazz aren’t likely to use their biannual exception this summer, states Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. Utah hopes to re-sign point guard Mike Conley, which would put its team salary above the tax apron and remove any chance to use the roughly $3.7MM BAE. Even if Conley goes elsewhere, Todd doesn’t believe the Jazz would be willing to take on the hard cap that comes with using the exception.
The Jazz are hosting a pre-draft workout on Thursday that will includes Houston’s Quentin Grimes, Providence’s David Duke, and San Diego State’s Matt Mitchell, sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic.
Jones categorizes it as an important session for the Jazz, who like Grimes as a potential target at No. 30 and want to get a closer look at Mitchell, who has worked out for more than 10 teams and is considered a draft riser.
Sources tell Jones that other prospects the Jazz are eyeing as possibilities at No. 30 include Nah’Shon Hyland, Ayo Dosunmu, Miles McBride, Herb Jones, Joel Ayayi from Gonzaga, Joshua Primo, and Jared Butler.
After four years as a solid playoff team in the West, the Jazz took a big step forward in 2020/21, finishing the season with the NBA’s best record at 52-20. The club’s regular season success was buoyed by an improved offense, with Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, and Bojan Bogdanovic playing key roles.
Always a strong defensive team since Rudy Gobert‘s emergence as a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, Utah had ranked in the middle of the pack for several years on offense. But in ’20/21, the team’s 116.5 offensive rating was the NBA’s fourth-highest mark and its +9.0 overall net rating was easily the league’s best.
Unfortunately, the Jazz’s dream regular season didn’t translate to playoff success. Like a number of other clubs, Utah was hit with some bad injury luck at the wrong time, as Conley and Mitchell were both slowed by leg injuries in the postseason.
A knee injury to Clippers star Kawhi Leonard presented a golden opportunity for the Jazz to advance to the Western Finals anyway, but the club was unable to take advantage of the opening and was vanquished in the second round by an L.A. squad missing its leading scorer.
Now, Utah will head into the offseason trying to figure out ways to upgrade its roster despite the team’s extremely limited cap flexibility.
The Jazz’s Offseason Plan:
With former executive VP of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey transitioning to an advisory role, it’ll be up to new head of basketball operations Justin Zanik to determine how the Jazz can contend for a title in 2022.
While only nine players have guaranteed contracts for next season, Utah is already on the hook for nearly $130MM in player salaries, and that total doesn’t include Conley, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Re-signing Conley is in the Jazz’s best interests — he had a productive 2020/21 season and the club won’t free up any cap space to replace him if he departs.
A new contract for Conley could present some financial issues, however. Even if the point guard takes a pay cut to something in the $15-20MM range (about half of what he earned last season), his deal would take the Jazz well beyond the luxury tax line. The franchise is under new ownership, but we don’t yet know whether Ryan Smith will have the stomach to pay a big tax bill for a roster that has yet to advance beyond the second round of the playoffs.
If the Jazz want to limit their tax penalties, there are essentially two options: letting Conley walk or cutting costs elsewhere. Neither solution is ideal. Conley would be nearly impossible to replace, but the club also doesn’t have any obvious albatross contracts — all its highest-paid players are key contributors to the rotation.
Trimming salary in a trade could mean making veterans like Joe Ingles (one year, $13MM) and Derrick Favors (two years, $20MM) available. Ingles is entering his age-34 season, while the Jazz could probably find a cheaper backup center than Favors.
Jordan Clarkson (three years, $40MM) and Royce O’Neale (three years, $27.5MM) could also be trade candidates. However, Clarkson is an important scorer off the bench and O’Neale is one of Utah’s most versatile defenders — and neither contract is unfavorable.
If Smith doesn’t mind going well into the tax for at least a year, the Jazz could re-sign Conley and then look to reinforce the roster using the taxpayer mid-level exception. Since so few teams have cap room available this summer, Utah could realistically acquire a solid rotation player with that $6MM mid-level.
The Jazz could also make the No. 30 pick in this year’s draft available for veteran help, though the return likely wouldn’t be significant and the team might be better off trying to nail that pick. Adding an inexpensive contributor to the books for the next four years would help offset some of Utah’s pricier contracts.
Salary Cap Situation
Note: Our salary cap projections are based on a presumed 3% increase, which would result in a $112.4MM cap for 2021/22.
Guaranteed Salary
- Rudy Gobert ($35,344,828)
- Donovan Mitchell ($28,103,500) 1
- Bojan Bogdanovic ($18,700,000)
- Joe Ingles ($13,036,364)
- Jordan Clarkson ($12,420,000)
- Derrick Favors ($9,720,900)
- Royce O’Neale ($8,800,000)
- Udoka Azubuike ($2,075,880)
- Elijah Hughes ($1,517,981)
- Total: $129,719,453
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Miye Oni ($1,782,621)
- Matt Thomas ($1,782,621) 2
- Total: $3,565,242
Restricted Free Agents
- Juwan Morgan ($1,897,476 qualifying offer / $1,897,476 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $1,897,476
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- No. 30 overall pick ($1,994,520)
- Total: $1,994,520
Extension-Eligible Players
- Bojan Bogdanovic (veteran)
- Miye Oni (veteran)
- Matt Thomas (veteran)
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
Mike Conley ($39,344,970): Bird rights 4- Georges Niang ($1,669,178): Bird rights
- Ersan Ilyasova ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights
- Emmanuel Mudiay ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights 5
- Total: $44,352,504
Offseason Cap Outlook
It’s a safe bet that the Jazz will be over the cap and at least in the neighborhood of the tax line. Even without re-signing Conley, Utah may be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception, since using the non-taxpayer MLE would hard-cap the team at the tax apron, which figures to be in the neighborhood of $143MM.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,890,000 6
- Trade exception: $5,005,350
- Trade exception: $2,024,079
- Trade exception: $340,000
Footnotes
- This is a projected value. Mitchell’s salary will be 25% of the 2021/22 salary cap.
- Thomas’ salary becomes fully guaranteed after August 3.
- Because he has been on a two-way contract with the Jazz for two seasons, Brantley is eligible for a standard minimum-salary qualifying offer.
- This is a projected value. Conley’s cap hit will be the maximum salary for a player with 10+ years of NBA service.
- The cap hold for Mudiay remains on the Jazz’s books from a prior season because it hasn’t been renounced. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value.
Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders, RealGM, and ESPN was used in the creation of this post.
After making some noise in the exhibition schedule by upsetting Team USA, Nigeria will be looking to become the first African men’s basketball team to win an Olympic medal. And they’ll be doing so with a roster that features eight current NBA players, along with one former NBA player.
Here’s the 12-man squad that will represent Nigeria at the Tokyo games, per the Nigeria Basketball Federation (Twitter link):
- Precious Achiuwa (Heat)
- Caleb Agada
- Obi Emegano
- Chimezie Metu (Kings)
- Ike Nwamu
- Jordan Nwora (Bucks)
- Jahlil Okafor (Pistons)
- Josh Okogie (Timberwolves)
- KZ Okpala (Heat)
- Miye Oni (Jazz)
- Ekpe Udoh
- Gabe Vincent (Heat)
Achiuwa, Nwora, Okafor, Okogie, and Okpala are all on guaranteed contracts for next season with their respective teams. Metu and Oni are on non-guaranteed deals, while Vincent will be eligible for restricted free agency after finishing the season on a two-way pact. Udoh, a former sixth overall pick who just finalized a two-year deal with Italian club Virtus Bologna, has appeared in a total of 400 NBA games (regular season and postseason)
While the Nigerian squad isn’t exactly loaded with star power, it’s worth highlighting since it’s rare for any country besides Team USA to send so many current NBA players to the Olympics.
Australia’s team will have seven players who finished the season on NBA rosters, while Spain’s roster features 10 players with at least some NBA experience. But the U.S. team is the only other one in Tokyo that will feature at least eight current NBAers.
- The Jazz‘s biggest problems in the postseason were a lack of depth and a lack of versatility, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News, noting that the team figures to face some difficult roster decisions this offseason as it looks for ways to improve.
Sign-and-trade deals are expected to be plentiful this summer and the largest one could involve Hawks forward John Collins, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Most contenders have limited cap flexibility, so league insiders are expecting the sign-and-trade option to be used with several of the top free agents.
Collins, a restricted free agent, could be on the move because of the perception that Atlanta doesn’t view him as a max player. Team owner Tony Ressler said last week that the team is hoping to reach a “fair agreement” with Collins, which raises questions about how high the Hawks would be willing to go to match an offer.
League sources tell Fischer there will be a “sizable market” for Collins once free agency begins next month. The Mavericks have been considered a possible destination for some time, and the Timberwolves are another team to watch, according to Fischer.
He shares some more rumors involving potential sign-and-trades:
- Dennis Schröder turned down a four-year, $84MM extension offer from the Lakers and is expected to be on the move this summer. Fischer notes that Schröder wants a bigger salary and a larger role in the offense, but he’s not likely to get either in L.A. The Bulls and Knicks are expected to have interest in the veteran point guard, according to league sources, and a sign-and-trade is the Lakers’ best opportunity to add talent this offseason. L.A. will also continue to see what it can get in return for Kyle Kuzma, Fischer adds.
- The Sixers remain interested in Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and he’s believed to welcome the chance to play for his hometown team. Several contenders will have their eyes on Philadelphia guard Danny Green, who represents another sign-and-trade opportunity.
- Giving P.J. Tucker a new deal with the $12MM average salary he asked for in Houston would push the Bucks over the tax apron. Fischer states that the Nets have been interested in Tucker since they started negotiating the James Harden trade, and the Heat expressed interest as well when they talked to the Rockets about Victor Oladipo. Fischer identifies the Lakers, Warriors, Nuggets and Jazz as other teams to watch, along with the Timberwolves, who are led by former Houston executive Gersson Rosas and have been trying to acquire Tucker since the 2020 draft.
- Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie and Warriors forward Kelly Oubre are two other potential names on the sign-and-trade market, according to Fischer. Sources say Brooklyn kept Dinwiddie past the trade deadline so he could be a potential sign-and-trade asset, while Oubre offers a chance for tax-strapped Golden State to pick up talent. Fischer names the Mavericks, Knicks and Heat as teams that would be interested in both players.
Keeping Mike Conley is a top priority for the Jazz, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic in his off-season primer, but there are plenty of other questions beyond that facing this year’s No. 1 seed in the West.
One such question will be if the Jazz can hit on the 30th pick in the draft. While it’s not historically a wellspring for players who can help a team with championship ambitions, this is a deep draft and there are plenty of examples of success stories at that spot, such as Jimmy Butler, Kevin Porter Jr.., Kevon Looney, and Kyle Anderson, among others.
There’s also the question of their current young players on the roster. Though Donovan Mitchell is the only young player who is a member of the team’s core, the Jazz will have to decide which other youngsters they keep and try to develop, and which they let go.
We have more from around the Northwest Division:
- Will Barton of the Nuggets was cagey about the topic of his impending player option deadline and whether he’ll look to enter free agency, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “Being appreciated,” Barton said of what he’s looking for in free agency. “Team knowing my value. Of course, an important role. Just the right situation. I want to win.” Barton will have to decide whether he picks up his $14.6MM player option by July 17.
- The Timberwolves have brought Anthony Edwards back to Minnesota for an injury evaluation, reports Christina Long of The Star Tribune. Edwards was among the players chosen to practice with Team USA as part of the Select Team, but was seen limping off the floor last week. A Star Tribune source reports that the injury is non-knee related, and is a sprain.
- The Nuggets held a workout for six draft prospects yesterday, tweets Mike Singer: Josh Christopher, Quentin Grimes, Jason Preston, Duane Washington, Jordan Goodman, and Matt Coleman. Of the six, Christopher and Grimes are the highest-ranked, and either one could potentially be in play when the Nuggets are on the board with the 26th pick.
John Collins‘ playoff averages of 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game (in 32.0 MPG) don’t jump off the page. However, people around the NBA believe the Hawks big man bolstered his case for a maximum-salary type investment this offseason with his postseason performance, says Shams Charania of The Athletic. Collins played a key role in Atlanta winning two series as an underdog and getting to within two games of the NBA Finals.
Since Collins will be a restricted free agent, the Hawks will have the ability to either sign Collins to a new deal themselves or match any offer sheet he signs with another team. Still, the club has projected reluctance to go all the way up to max for the 23-year-old, so a rival suitor could put pressure on Atlanta’s ownership and front office by presenting an aggressive four-year offer. The Mavericks, Heat, Spurs, and Timberwolves are among the teams expected to display interest, sources tell Charania.
Here’s more from Charania:
- The Rockets have been actively exploring ways to move up from No. 2 and acquire the Pistons‘ No. 1 pick, sources tell Charania. A report last week suggested Houston has been “fixated” on Cade Cunningham, the top prospect in this year’s draft class, while multiple reports have stated that Detroit likes Jalen Green and Evan Mobley, so it’s possible the two teams could be motivated to work something out.
- The Rockets have also been discussing veteran guard Eric Gordon in trade scenarios, according to Charania. Gordon, who still has two guaranteed years left on his contract, would be a better fit on a win-now team than a rebuilding Houston squad.
- Isaiah Todd, who played for the G League Ignite in 2020/21, is canceling draft workouts with teams late in the first round, including the Jazz, and is focusing on teams with lottery picks, says Charania. That seems awfully optimistic for a prospect ranked 47th overall on ESPN’s big board.
- Villanova’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl has been impressing teams, including the Pelicans, during the pre-draft process, per Charania. Robinson-Earl ranks 60th on ESPN’s board.
Team USA is still be the favorite to capture the gold medal in Tokyo, but there are plenty of questions after Saturday’s 90-87 loss to Nigeria in exhibition play, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Coached by Mike Brown and sporting seven current NBA players on its roster, Nigeria led throughout the fourth quarter and held off American rallies with a combination of physical defense and three-point shooting, hitting 20 of 42 from beyond the arc.
“That’s a talented group of players. It’s not a bunch of people off the street playing basketball,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said. “Every year, teams are better and better, and every year, one or two or three more NBA players are on their teams, so they’re a quality team. Mike’s done a great job with them, and they’re as athletic as anybody. They’re very physical, and they’ve been practicing for three weeks.”
Team USA is loaded with All-Stars, but just began practicing together this week in Las Vegas. A lack of continuity could be a concern, as it was with the last major international tournament, the 2019 FIBA World Cup, where the Americans lost to France and Serbia and wound up finishing seventh.
“None of us have ever played with each other, we’re just trying to figure it out,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “We don’t have three to four weeks. This is good for us, we’ll learn a lot from the film and we’ll regroup.”
There’s more Olympics-related news this morning:
- Brown recognizes the significance of Saturday’s win, which was the first ever for an African team against the United States, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The Nigerians, who are aiming for the first Olympic basketball medal in African history, lost to the Americans by 83 points in the 2012 Olympics and by 44 in a 2016 exhibition game. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t mean much in the standings as far as where we’re trying to get to,” Brown said. “But it’s a good win for us. I don’t think any African team has been able to beat USA Basketball in an exhibition game or a real game. … We’re trying to get a little bit of momentum for Nigeria and for the continent of Africa.”
- NBA interest has “spiked” in Nigeria’s Caleb Agada, who came off the bench to score 17 points in the upset, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Agada recently had a workout with the Jazz and will play for the Nuggets‘ team in next month’s Summer League.
- Former NBA forward Luis Scola scored 25 points for Argentina in a loss to Australia Saturday night. At age 41, Scola indicated he may keep playing once the Olympics are over. “I don’t even know if I’m going to retire after the tournament,” he said (Twitter link from Reynolds).
The Timberwolves have traded away their picks in this month’s draft but they’re still preparing as if they’ll wind up participating, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. They’re co-hosting pre-draft workouts this weekend with the Jazz.
“Just because we don’t have a pick on whatever day today is doesn’t mean we’re not going to have a pick on draft night,” team president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said. “The worst thing you can do is be caught unprepared and we’re fortunate we have players on our roster that are valued by other teams. We have opportunities to jump in the draft at very strategic levels and that’s a testament to our players, the value they have around the league.”
We have more on the Timberwolves:
- Rumors surfaced late last month that the team would explore a trade with the Sixers for Ben Simmons. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic explores how Simmons might fit in and what it would take to bring him to Minnesota. The Timberwolves could match up salaries by including Ricky Rubio and Malik Beasley in a deal, but it’s likely Philadelphia would ask for D’Angelo Russell and/or future first-rounders, Krawczynski notes.
- Robby Sikka has resigned from his position as the Wolves’ VP of basketball operations and wellness, Krawczynski writes in a separate story. Rosas hired Sikka two years ago to improve the team’s ability to stay healthy, revamp its player nutrition program and work with head athletic trainer Gregg Farnam to oversee the rehabilitation of injuries.
- Forward Juan Hernangomez, who had been preparing to represent Spain in the Olympics, dislocated his left shoulder during an exhibition game and will miss the Tokyo games. Get the details here.