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Utah Jazz amnesty player?
Posted by: brandonbrinton on November 27th, 2011
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Under the new CBA each team gets to release a player and not have their salary go against them this next season.
WHO WILL THE JAZZ DROP!?!?!?!
Raja Bell: Doubt it. He may be just meh on the court but his locker room presence and his age as the only real VET on the team are intangibles nobody else on the team has. Cutting 3 million from the books wont do much either.
Memo: I bet its him. I friggin LOVE the guy. He is one of my favorite players. But he is getting 10 mil next year. TEN MILLION DOLLARS! We have a log jam upfront, and Memo just doesnt fit anymore.
Any other options?
Replies: 26
Views: 682
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26 Responses
with teams able to use it at any time and not just this season I bet they don’t use it this season. But I honestly don’t see it happening to Memo if he comes back healthy and shooting. We lost alot of our games last year solely on his 3 point shooting. If he comes back shooting 3’s and healthy there is no reason to drop him. We don’t have any legit and reliable 3 point shooters. Kanter will probably spend alot of time in the D-league as he gets eased in. Instead of amnesty on a player they want off the books they would try to trade him first. I’d like to see them go after someone like Rudy Gay, we have a lot to offer with upcoming lottery picks(possibly two) and players to get someone who could be a solid role player at the two off the bench to take over for Raja.
Getting rid of Millsap,Jefferson,Favors or even Evans is insane. Despite lack of room for Evans the Jazz won’t make the same mistake they were forced to do with Eric Maynor. Fes won’t be back.
I see Watson and possibly Price coming back unless a better pg is out there(which there really isn’t)
Harris/Watson/Price
Hayward/Burks/Miles/Bell
Millsap/AK/
Favors/Evans
Jefferson/Okur/Kanter
that’s 14 players, you can have 15 max and 12 can dress. That gives us a good rotation and players that can play multiple positions. We can go big against the lakers, or small and fast with dual PG’s. We have some assets and tradable players to try and make some good trades.
If the Jazz decide to use the Amnesty Clause they would release either Bell or Okur. I agree that Okur makes the most sense, considering he makes 10 million this season, and Bell only makes 6 million over the next two year combined. If the Jazz release Memo (which would take the team payroll down around 47 million), would they suddenly become a major player in the free agent market?
I can see the Miller’s spending right up to the edge of the luxury tax (around 69 million) to remain competitive, like they have the last couple seasons, so if the Jazz do let Memo walk, wouldn’t they have around 20 million to play with, to fill out the rest of the roster?
I like Earl Watson, but I would love to see the Jazz pursue Jose Juan Barea from Dallas.
Some other free agents I would like to see the Jazz try to target, include Shane Battier, Tayshaun Prince, Samuel Dalembert, DeAndre Jordan, and Andrei Kirilenko.
I honestly think AK being resigned is a given. There really aren’t any better players at his position available. He has been the best player overseas this year in complete domination mode. Hopefully that concussion didn’t effect him too much. The Jazz with this new CBA have to keep loyalty players and Okur and AK are just that. They will be great off the bench and will stay loyal to Utah.
Okur’s health will play a big factor in which stays and which goes. If he’s well enough to play, it might be beneficial to keep him because if nothing else, his expiring contract provides a legitimate trade chip. Bell doesn’t really bring anything to the table, and would only take minutes away from Hayward’s and Burks’ development. I don’t buy Bell as a “locker room presence” one bit after he bitched and moaned about being benched last year. That’s not a positive veteran presence at all.
I do believe it will be one of these two, hard to say which one.
Okur’s health is certainly an issue. The NBA is a lot tougher stamina-wise, as ya gotta play D too, not just shoot 3’s. The Jazz may well try to trade him, but if he ain’t healthy, that won’t fly far either. Unless Bell is recovered from last season’s various nagging injuries, I’d be tempted to drop him AND try to trade Okur.
Andre Miller will be a free agent after next season. I would like to see the Jazz go after him as a backup after next season. He could be a great backup for the Jazz until he retires, possibly 3-4 more years. I could really see him being effective in the Jazz system and with leading a young team, as a backup to Harris, or whoever the Jazz might sign as a young up and coming point guard.
I disagree that Fez wouldn’t give the Jazz anything, if he was re-signed. Even if he doesn’t improve much, he gives the Jazz a good interior defender who can guard really big or really good centers (much like Mark Eaton or Greg Ostertag used to do), for a really good price. And, he may actually get better, and be a significant contributor to the Jazz.
IF Memo is healthy keep him…Big if but how’s he playing in Turkey. Hopefully good and in shape. Raja has been a disappointment. Love the hard nose play but always injured since he left Jazz last time. Love the depth up front but need the 1 and 2 solidified so tough decision.
On paper “waiving” Memo would look good, but there are two additional considerations:
1. He’s the turk who’s supposed to take Enes Kanter under his wing and make him feel more at home immediately. Kanter seems to take well to the American way of life, but it’s nice to speak your own language every once in a while.
2. We have seen a lot of unrest with all the recent trades. It’s not entirely good for team chemistry, when you have to fear to be traded away on a whim. If management is loyal to the employess, employees tend to be loyal to the company, too.
I don’t see Price coming back – his contribution last year has been sparse and he seems more undersized each year.
So basically I don’t expect a lot of player movement for the Jazz.
The only thing Fesswill be good for is the halftime clown. He and the Bear would make a great team. Miller is near the end.Jazz have enough guards to fillthe spots. I would give Watson one more year and say goodbye to Elson and Price also..
I’m with Tacorev. I haven’t seen any sort of ‘veteran presence’ from Bell. His play seemed much more …lethargic… than I was expecting. I would Amnesty Bell before I’d amnesty Okur.
Also, I like Fez. I think he has untapped potential. How to tap it is perhaps his biggest mystery. But we have way too many bigs now to re-sign Fez. Someone else will have to take on that risk. Plus, he got hurt playing for Ukraine in the offseason. Anyway, good luck you crazy clown of a gigantic human.
I also don’t see the Jazz being in a hurry to use the amnesty clause. As mentioned before, Memo is expected to help Kanter with the transition to the NBA and Utah. He still gets paid, even if he’s waived, and paying a released player just isn’t the Jazz’ MO–unless he’s a cancer in the locker room, which Memo is not. Keeping him may also expand the possibility of trades in the next couple of months.
If there were a free agent the Jazz had their hearts set on, and the cap room was needed–I could see Memo being the casualty. However, I don’t expect it to happen.
Waiving Bell would provide little cap relief, and I’m hoping his role the next two seasons is as a 10-15 minute veteran reserve, locker room leader & player rep.
Just my take…looking forward to seeing how the young guys develop this year!
Why are some of you saying Fes still has potential? Is this your first year following the jazz? Ostertag, Borchardt, Ruffin, Handlogten, etc. . . Are you guys not sick of waiting for phantom talent? Come on! It’s time we expect more from our bigs! More than just two contacts of nothing but unseen potential!
Its called getting a true big man coach and learning to motivate players. It happens all the time with other teams. The fact is the one thing that remains the same for the Jazz is turning lose talent that ends up being good or even excellent talent elsewhere. I know it happens with all teams, but certain coaches and organizations learn how to get talent to produce, we just aren’t one of those organizations.
The fact is Fez should be a beast, Hell go get Olojuwon to be a big man coach, bring in Karl Malone or others that are competitors that don’t back down and learned to hone their skills with work and dedication. You can’t teach 7′2” and 300 pounds that is something you take and mold.
The facts are this, you can see talent that has been coached well, and Fez still looks as uncoached as they come, he lacks all sorts of fundementals. His shot is off balance at the line and he hasn’t been given consistant minutes regardless of play and results which is crucial when developing.
We could use a bruiser that sends messages and he showed that chip on his shoulder a few times last year that with the right coach could easily mold him to be VERY useful. An untrained or unexperienced eye might just wait for talent to show itself and then go after it just like everyone else, but huge value comes in bringing up the un seen talent and with the players we have now Fez will improve his game.
I’ve said it before that Fez isn’t a make it or break it person fo rthe team so why waste the time talking about him? The answer to that is if we can make him good enough to be a threat what could be done to improve the other players and that boils down to coaching. We now have even more talent and it needs to be developed that much more. Just seeing the duo that could be created between Jefferson and Milsap in a high low makes me geek out with the possibilities if properly trained. But even our starting talent is far from polished and trained assassins. Our problem is coaching no question at all.
I don’t think the jazz will drop anyone. Okur has been doing alright overseas here are his stats: http://www.tblstat.net/pd.asp?p=243
Averaging 13 Points – 8 Rebounds – 45% Shooting Percentage – 40% from Three
I like the Barea idea by the way, I totally agree that he is a good enough guard to start. He comes with liabilities for sure but showed his stuff big time last year. We could have him for the money we we’re paying Bell I would guess, and look what he did for Dallas. Of course he’s really good friends with Cuban as are many of the players, but that might mean caban offers him more than others are willing to do. Might be tough to get, but love the idea.
Correction, not to start over Harris, but he is a starter on a lower team. If he played the way he did in the playoffs all of the time I guess he could be a starter on any team, but it didn’t really matter if he started or not because he was finishing the games and we need that kind of play just like every team.
A few things. First is the amnesty clause a for sure thing in the new CBA? I havent seen the details of it, if someone has legit info please post links. Also, I may have been high but for some reason I thought the amnesty clause meant you waive a player but still pay him the salary? If so… the Jazz pay 10 million dollars just to “not have” Okur when they probably wont have 15 players anyways? Doubt it.
Also I hate Barea with a passion.
I like what someone said when they said The Jazz may save the amnesty for a future player. Okur could be a good trade option if he fails to produce. Bell only gets 3 mil anyways. What if the Jazz decide to pay someone 17 mil a year and they turn out to be AK? That may be a great commodity for the next few years to have in your back pocket.
The amnesty clause must be used on a player under contract under the old CBA, which means c-ya Memo. Love him but 10 million? No way they pay him that.
Also, JJ Barea is going to get a big offer. You don’t show that well in the playoffs and come back and get a 3 million a year contract. I bet someone will pay him 6-7 million a year. He’s not a starter anyways. He is a score first, defenseless guard. He fits perfect with Dallas cause they have Kidd who is big, and can space the floor. He wouldn’t be as effective here, and I don’t think he is a starter anyways. He is good cause that is his role, an off the bench, change of pace, quick guard who runs high pick and rolls.
The top F.A. I wouldn’t mind seeing in a Jazz uni is Jamal Crawford. Lets face it, we need a go-to scorer. In the NBA, there are times when you just need someone to get you a bucket. I dunno, maybe he wouldn’t fit but I’d rather pay for him than JJ.
People, people. The amnesty clause doesn’t mean you can drop a guy AND his salary. If the Jazz were to drop Memo they would still have to pay him the $10 million, it just wouldn’t count against the salary cap.
JJ created for himself non stop and the fact that we have 3 point shooters that will spread the floor would creat a similar situation for him here like in Dallas. There’s no way he get’s 6-7 mill… not a prayer. Best is 5 mill. If he gets more than that this whole lockout garbage didn’t do anything. You can’t pay players more than their worth all over the place and have a chance at staying under the tax. I guess we’ll see, but its a big risk to pay a 5′9” guy big money.
Also to put Crawford and JJ in the same category is silly. Crawford is obviously worth far more in the eyes of everyone. Tall, lengthy, fast and clutch. JJ or Crawford? Different options, defferent players completely. So to me its not a comparison between the two and the price tag to aquire Crawford is going to be much higher. I would say crawford is going to get paid more than he’s worth somewhere it just better not be here at Utah. I would pay the guy 5-6 mill max. He’s what 32 years old? It’s not like you can always expect players to be Jazon Kidd and last forever.
What are you talking about? All our 3 point shooters? Who? Let me guess, you are going to say CJ, Hayward, Memo…? Guess what, we are in the bottom 7 in every 3 point statistic last year. I just looked it up. Attempts, percentage, and makes/game.
Obviously Crawford is more money. What I said was I’d rather pay for Crawford than JJ. I never said they were the same money or player. The only category I put them in is free agents, which they both are.
Where does JJ play for us? He can’t play huge minutes at the 1 in this league, he’s awful on D. Dallas has him running pick and rolls with Dirk Nowitzki….DIRK NOWITZKI. Why do you think he was so successful? He comes off a pick and pop with Dirk and has Kidd, Stephenson and Dirk all spotting up for 3’s. Plus on D, Dallas had Tyson Chandler protecting the rim, which hides his inability to stay in front of anyone. Who do we have protecting the rim? Derrick Favors? Ya he’ll be good but he’s not yet.
I’m not trying to say I love Crawford and he’d be great here, I said I didn’t know for sure. But I don’t think JJ would be effective here.
JJ showed he was able to create without any of the starters on the floor. He was created his own time after time. We all were looking at the guy saying who is this? He pulled a bunch of rabbits out of the hat and was one of the biggest reasons short of Dirk that got them a ring. We all know its true.
The argument in my mind is this however… JJ or price? JJ or Watson? I like both of them, but price is very limited. He isn’t developing any further as a point guard. He can’t run the offense and is still playing like a high an idiot trying to impress with dunks and flashy garbage. Watson did a great job but he was terrible with his shooting and creating off the dribble. Not good on the pick and roll. He could pass and ran the offense pretty well, but didn’t break a defense down to much. His plus is his pesky defense which we all love, so it would be nice to see some offense from that position as well. I guess we need to just find other players that can fit both offense and defensive rolls.
Crawford isn’t going to be within reach for what we can spend anyway, I dont see it happeneing and we have Hayward that has youth, size and Kobe’s respect anyway!!! Love that kid!
Neither player is the complete package so maybe better to just pass on both. Let other teams get into financial trouble with over paying Crawford. Thats what I think.