Go short
Having thought about it over the weekend, that's what I would advise Deron Williams to do with his contract extension. The Jazz can start negotiations with Williams late Monday night and the star guard's decision really boils down to short versus long.
He could follow LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (and possibly Chris Paul) in signing for three years with an option for a fourth. Or Williams could follow Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony in signing for four years with an option for a fifth.
As long as Williams cannot be absolutely sure of what Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur will do next summer - - when both can opt out of their contracts and become free agents - - I think Williams has to leave himself an out after three seasons.
Under NBA rules, Williams could make even more money by returning to the free agent market that summer. He's entitled to a max contract worth 25 percent of the salary cap now; that figure jumps to 30 percent after his seventh season in the league.
He would be giving up more than $21 million in guaranteed money but not having at least an option for the fifth year of the extension. But Williams' injury history through his first three seasons suggests that durability won't be an issue.
So far in his career, Williams has played in 242 out of a possible 246 games. Anything can happen between now and 2011-12, of course, but if Williams opted out of the extension after three seasons, he would be a free agent in the prime of his career at 28.
One question I think Williams has to ask is how much salary-cap flexibility the Jazz expect to have going forward. Obviously, they would like to keep together core players like Williams, Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap along with Andrei Kirilenko, Boozer and Okur.
It's next to impossible, however, to do so and not pay the luxury tax as long as Kirilenko isn't traded and Boozer and Okur don't leave as free agents with nothing in return.
Williams should want to hear if the Jazz are fundamentally opposed to paying the tax as a small-market team or if they are willing to do so if they believe they are capable of winning a championship.
* * *
Michael Lewis went to Las Vegas to cover USA Basketball training camp for us this weekend and asked Williams why he stuck around Salt Lake City this off-season. Among several reasons, Williams said he recently bought a house in town.
"It's a short summer, man," Williams said. "I like golf. Texas is hot, man. Hot and humid, and I can't really stand out there in the day and play golf, so I've been sticking around and working out. I feel the altitude is a better place to train. . . . So I like it."
* * *
Can we all please back off a bit on the Boozer opt-out hysteria.
There's just so much that could happen over the next year before he has to make a decision. It's hard, for example, to believe Boozer would want to enter free agency if he spent the upcoming season battling an injury. That's a 50/50 proposition given his first four years in Utah.
It's also hard to imagine Boozer wouldn't re-sign with the Jazz if they won a championship. Everybody expects the Miami Heat to recover this season, but also remember that they went 15-67 last season. Even if they double their victory total, that would still mean finishing 30-52. That would be a tough sell for anyone, Boozer or otherwise.
-- Ross Siler
He could follow LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (and possibly Chris Paul) in signing for three years with an option for a fourth. Or Williams could follow Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony in signing for four years with an option for a fifth.
As long as Williams cannot be absolutely sure of what Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur will do next summer - - when both can opt out of their contracts and become free agents - - I think Williams has to leave himself an out after three seasons.
Under NBA rules, Williams could make even more money by returning to the free agent market that summer. He's entitled to a max contract worth 25 percent of the salary cap now; that figure jumps to 30 percent after his seventh season in the league.
He would be giving up more than $21 million in guaranteed money but not having at least an option for the fifth year of the extension. But Williams' injury history through his first three seasons suggests that durability won't be an issue.
So far in his career, Williams has played in 242 out of a possible 246 games. Anything can happen between now and 2011-12, of course, but if Williams opted out of the extension after three seasons, he would be a free agent in the prime of his career at 28.
One question I think Williams has to ask is how much salary-cap flexibility the Jazz expect to have going forward. Obviously, they would like to keep together core players like Williams, Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap along with Andrei Kirilenko, Boozer and Okur.
It's next to impossible, however, to do so and not pay the luxury tax as long as Kirilenko isn't traded and Boozer and Okur don't leave as free agents with nothing in return.
Williams should want to hear if the Jazz are fundamentally opposed to paying the tax as a small-market team or if they are willing to do so if they believe they are capable of winning a championship.
* * *
Michael Lewis went to Las Vegas to cover USA Basketball training camp for us this weekend and asked Williams why he stuck around Salt Lake City this off-season. Among several reasons, Williams said he recently bought a house in town.
"It's a short summer, man," Williams said. "I like golf. Texas is hot, man. Hot and humid, and I can't really stand out there in the day and play golf, so I've been sticking around and working out. I feel the altitude is a better place to train. . . . So I like it."
* * *
Can we all please back off a bit on the Boozer opt-out hysteria.
There's just so much that could happen over the next year before he has to make a decision. It's hard, for example, to believe Boozer would want to enter free agency if he spent the upcoming season battling an injury. That's a 50/50 proposition given his first four years in Utah.
It's also hard to imagine Boozer wouldn't re-sign with the Jazz if they won a championship. Everybody expects the Miami Heat to recover this season, but also remember that they went 15-67 last season. Even if they double their victory total, that would still mean finishing 30-52. That would be a tough sell for anyone, Boozer or otherwise.
-- Ross Siler
11:57 PM
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2 Comments:
Go long! What PGs have ever been worth the max? Nash never got the max and any PGs that did were never worth it (Marbury, Francis, Davis). Williams might actually be worth the max, but in return the Jazz should get stability.
But what if we're desperately hoping Boozer does opt out? An over-rated, finesse PF, who plays no defense, will never make us into anything more than a pretender-contender and that the worst kind of a team to be. With guys like D. Howard, Brand, TD, KG and possibly Bynum/Oden out there, it's almost laughable to think that we could win a ring in the future with no defense Carlos Loser as one of our team's main pieces.
Get him out for cap space, sign a guy who plays D and makes 1/5 of Boozer's salary (Diop anyone) and let our draft picks (i.e. Millsap and AK) hold down the four spot. Boozer is a joke.
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