Friday report
Had the chance to talk face to face with Larry Miller for the first time since taking over the beat. With the negotiating period beginning about 24 hours from now, Miller again expressed his belief that you always overpay on the free-agent market.
There are, of course, some exceptions but Miller is right for the most part. So what kind of player would cause the Jazz to do a little spending? Given that they're knocking on the luxury-tax door with a $60 million payroll, Miller had a pretty specific job description.
"That suggests that any free agent would need to be probably a journeyman player, but still who could help us," Miller said. "You know, not just be a father figure in the locker room, but could help us on the floor for 15, 18, 20 minutes a night.
"I'm not sure who's out there that could fill that role that wouldn't command a higher price on another team that had a hole for that person with us just needing him as a filler. It's going to take a really exacting fit for us to be able to benefit from the free agent market this year."
The Jazz could spend a $5.5 million midlevel exception on one or more players. They also have a biannual exception worth $1.83 million that can be used to sign a player to a contract of up to two years. And the Jazz are free to make trades so long as they match salaries.
But I wouldn't expect the Jazz to make major any moves. They may tweak the roster - - and probably thin at the ranks at shooting guard - - but Miller said this season's team will return largely intact, which means Andrei Kirilenko's staying.
"I believe the team next year will look more like the prior year's team than any of the 22 years I've been involved so far," Miller said. "I anticipate less change this summer than we've ever had before."
One other thing: I asked Miller if he thought Utah would be a more attractive free-agent destination given the team's success. Kevin O'Connor said as much when we talked before the draft, saying just about every player would want to play on a team with Deron Williams running the point.
Miller seemed to think the biggest factor was having a chance to play for a championship contender.
"I think that a lot of these guys do want to win, especially those that are later on a little bit on in their careers, who know they don't have 10 more years, so they want to take a shot at it," Miller said. "So that's something we've got going for us in the equation. I certainly don't cast aside the possibility of a free agent signing."
* * *
If my reading of the rules on qualifying offers is correct, then Dee Brown's was worth $862,456 and C.J. Miles' was worth $945,610. It's the greater of either 125 percent of the prior season's salary or the minimum salary for next season plus $175,000. Brown and Miles both come out ahead the second way.
* * *
Here's what we learned from a long day of talking to Morris Almond's former coaches. His high school coach calls him the greatest kid you could ask for. He also read it somewhere that Almond would have been a top 10 pick had he played at Duke or North Carolina instead of Rice.
His college coach says he is an unbelievable shooter coming off screens, which fits perfectly with the Jazz. He thinks Almond will greatly benefit from playing with stars like Carlos Boozer and Williams and that it'll be nice for him to no longer have to spend four hours a night worrying about his school work at the Ivy League-like college.
Almond is a really polished and poised kid, but Rice's Willis Wilson said "That's his biggest strength and his biggest weakness. There are times you look at him and you misunderstand. You'll say he's got this calm, cool demeanor and you wish he'd show some anger."
At the same time, Almond doesn't get flustered. Wilson cited the example I wrote for Saturday's paper about Almond reassuring his teammates as they trailed by 10 points against Western Carolina in a December game. The Owls came back to win, with Almond scoring 29 of his team's 37 second-half points.
* * *
Almond had his longest interview at the 2006 predraft camp with the Jazz. Walt Perrin, the team's player personnel director, said they were a little disappointed, in fact, when Almond returned to school. The Jazz would have considered using one of their two second-round picks on him.
What does Almond remember about the interview? He said O'Connor told him point-blank to ask teams whether they would take him with a particular pick. At the time, Almond was trying to decide whether to leave his name in the draft or return to Rice for his senior season.
"I was like, 'That's pretty no-nonsense,"' Almond said. "That tells me a lot about them. And I used that."
* * *
Almond continues to say all the right things. He was asked about the possibility of playing for the Jazz's NBA Development League affiliate this season. (The Ukrainian center/second-round project Kyrylo Fesenko would seem to be better suited for the Utah Flash.)
Almond said he would be willing to do so if that was the team's decision, adding, "They know what they're doing here."
* * *
How did Almond start his NBA career? The Jazz scrambled to find any available ticket on Delta to get him from Atlanta to Salt Lake on Friday. There was only one left, which left us with visions of Almond squeezing into a middle seat in Row 35 and turning to his fellow passengers to tell them about how he just went in the first round.
Almond touched down in Salt Lake and headed to the Jazz practice facility to make the rounds. The team scheduled a 2:30 press conference, but Almond had a 4:30 p.m. flight back, so he couldn't stick around long. I assume he was back in Atlanta sometime around midnight. Talk about a whirlwind day.
The one shame was that his family couldn't be there for the occasion. That's always one of my favorite things is seeing parents at the introductory news conference. They usually have a camera and are crying while seeing their son sitting on stage with all the logos behind them, shaking hands with a general manager and coach.
It's an innocent moment in a league that so often is anything but. Almond said his parents would come back with him, probably in about a week as practice starts for the Jazz's Rocky Mountain Revue team.
--Ross Siler
There are, of course, some exceptions but Miller is right for the most part. So what kind of player would cause the Jazz to do a little spending? Given that they're knocking on the luxury-tax door with a $60 million payroll, Miller had a pretty specific job description.
"That suggests that any free agent would need to be probably a journeyman player, but still who could help us," Miller said. "You know, not just be a father figure in the locker room, but could help us on the floor for 15, 18, 20 minutes a night.
"I'm not sure who's out there that could fill that role that wouldn't command a higher price on another team that had a hole for that person with us just needing him as a filler. It's going to take a really exacting fit for us to be able to benefit from the free agent market this year."
The Jazz could spend a $5.5 million midlevel exception on one or more players. They also have a biannual exception worth $1.83 million that can be used to sign a player to a contract of up to two years. And the Jazz are free to make trades so long as they match salaries.
But I wouldn't expect the Jazz to make major any moves. They may tweak the roster - - and probably thin at the ranks at shooting guard - - but Miller said this season's team will return largely intact, which means Andrei Kirilenko's staying.
"I believe the team next year will look more like the prior year's team than any of the 22 years I've been involved so far," Miller said. "I anticipate less change this summer than we've ever had before."
One other thing: I asked Miller if he thought Utah would be a more attractive free-agent destination given the team's success. Kevin O'Connor said as much when we talked before the draft, saying just about every player would want to play on a team with Deron Williams running the point.
Miller seemed to think the biggest factor was having a chance to play for a championship contender.
"I think that a lot of these guys do want to win, especially those that are later on a little bit on in their careers, who know they don't have 10 more years, so they want to take a shot at it," Miller said. "So that's something we've got going for us in the equation. I certainly don't cast aside the possibility of a free agent signing."
* * *
If my reading of the rules on qualifying offers is correct, then Dee Brown's was worth $862,456 and C.J. Miles' was worth $945,610. It's the greater of either 125 percent of the prior season's salary or the minimum salary for next season plus $175,000. Brown and Miles both come out ahead the second way.
* * *
Here's what we learned from a long day of talking to Morris Almond's former coaches. His high school coach calls him the greatest kid you could ask for. He also read it somewhere that Almond would have been a top 10 pick had he played at Duke or North Carolina instead of Rice.
His college coach says he is an unbelievable shooter coming off screens, which fits perfectly with the Jazz. He thinks Almond will greatly benefit from playing with stars like Carlos Boozer and Williams and that it'll be nice for him to no longer have to spend four hours a night worrying about his school work at the Ivy League-like college.
Almond is a really polished and poised kid, but Rice's Willis Wilson said "That's his biggest strength and his biggest weakness. There are times you look at him and you misunderstand. You'll say he's got this calm, cool demeanor and you wish he'd show some anger."
At the same time, Almond doesn't get flustered. Wilson cited the example I wrote for Saturday's paper about Almond reassuring his teammates as they trailed by 10 points against Western Carolina in a December game. The Owls came back to win, with Almond scoring 29 of his team's 37 second-half points.
* * *
Almond had his longest interview at the 2006 predraft camp with the Jazz. Walt Perrin, the team's player personnel director, said they were a little disappointed, in fact, when Almond returned to school. The Jazz would have considered using one of their two second-round picks on him.
What does Almond remember about the interview? He said O'Connor told him point-blank to ask teams whether they would take him with a particular pick. At the time, Almond was trying to decide whether to leave his name in the draft or return to Rice for his senior season.
"I was like, 'That's pretty no-nonsense,"' Almond said. "That tells me a lot about them. And I used that."
* * *
Almond continues to say all the right things. He was asked about the possibility of playing for the Jazz's NBA Development League affiliate this season. (The Ukrainian center/second-round project Kyrylo Fesenko would seem to be better suited for the Utah Flash.)
Almond said he would be willing to do so if that was the team's decision, adding, "They know what they're doing here."
* * *
How did Almond start his NBA career? The Jazz scrambled to find any available ticket on Delta to get him from Atlanta to Salt Lake on Friday. There was only one left, which left us with visions of Almond squeezing into a middle seat in Row 35 and turning to his fellow passengers to tell them about how he just went in the first round.
Almond touched down in Salt Lake and headed to the Jazz practice facility to make the rounds. The team scheduled a 2:30 press conference, but Almond had a 4:30 p.m. flight back, so he couldn't stick around long. I assume he was back in Atlanta sometime around midnight. Talk about a whirlwind day.
The one shame was that his family couldn't be there for the occasion. That's always one of my favorite things is seeing parents at the introductory news conference. They usually have a camera and are crying while seeing their son sitting on stage with all the logos behind them, shaking hands with a general manager and coach.
It's an innocent moment in a league that so often is anything but. Almond said his parents would come back with him, probably in about a week as practice starts for the Jazz's Rocky Mountain Revue team.
--Ross Siler
11:14 PM
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