Friday report
"Oh, you didn't hear?"
That was the first thing Morris Almond said when I approached him this morning before Jazz practice to ask about what the team had decided as far as exercising the third-year option in his rookie contract.
No, I hadn't heard, and I have to say I was stunned to learn that the Jazz weren't going to do so. Starting with the 2005 draft class, the NBA has guaranteed only the first two years of contracts for first-round picks, but it's rare for teams not to pick up a third-year option.
By my count, Almond becomes the fifth player not to have his third-year option picked up, joining Patrick O'Bryant, Yaroslav Korolev, Julius Hodge and Shannon Brown. Almond definitely has to worry now about just staying in the league past this season.
Rookie contracts are typically so cheap (relatively speaking, of course) - - Almond was to make $1.157 million for 2009-10 - - that those options are no-brainers for teams to exercise.
The pressure is now on Almond to prove he belongs in the NBA, as well as for the Jazz to get something in return for a first-round pick. There are differences of opinion, as well, as to whether Almond is a more attractive trade chip without the option rather than with it.
It's hard to see him as more than an expiring contract for any general manager looking to trade with the Jazz. With the option, Almond is a player you can develop for the remainder of this season and possibly next season before having to make any free-agent decisions.
From Almond's perspective, he could cash in as a free agent this summer if he has a productive season. He'll hit the free-agent market at least one and more likely two summers before anyone else from his draft class.
Of course, that's contingent on Almond finding a team where he can play. There's no guarantee of that right now. There's not a lot of trades made this time of year, when teams are busy seeing what they have at the start of a season.
"They're not going to give him away, they're going to try to find a deal," said Lon Babby, Almond's agent. "I can't control that other than by working on this end where we can."
Out of the four players who had their third-year options declined, three are no longer in the NBA. O'Bryant is the exception, signing a two-year, $1.7 million contract with Boston. Almond, meanwhile, said the whole process felt like going through the draft a second time.
My guess is that he will find a home. No matter how often Jerry Sloan criticized him for not having a more well-rounded game when it came to defense, passing and rebounding, Almond is an NBA-caliber shooter and there are still plenty of teams looking for those players.
Where Almond ends up is anybody's guess. He's still under contract to the Jazz and might have to play out this season with them (or the D-League's Utah Flash). The Jazz could try to re-sign him next summer, but I think it's a given that Almond is moving on.
Other than the Jazz, the two teams most interested in him before the draft were San Antonio and Detroit. Oklahoma City also could be a possibility with general manager Sam Presti having come from the Spurs and assistant GM Troy Weaver from the Jazz.
What's most stunning is that the Jazz decided Almond wasn't in their plans after watching a total of two summer leagues, two preseasons, 34 games in the NBA Development League, nine actual NBA games, 39 actual NBA minutes and 13 actual NBA points.
Will Almond be the next Mo Williams, a player the Jazz have to wish they'd held on to longer?
It depends on whether Kyle Korver leaves as a free agent after this season, whether they can sign Ronnie Brewer to an extension and - - I think this is No. 1 - - whether C.J. Miles lives up to the offer sheet the Jazz decided to match this summer.
Most interesting right now is that Almond has a spot on the active roster. He likely will until Matt Harpring's return. After struggling so much to find minutes for Almond as a rookie, there's a chance the Jazz might actually have to count on him now.
Can you imagine Almond having to play fourth-quarter minutes for a team that decided he wasn't worth bringing back next season?
"That's kind of the beauty of it," Almond said. "It's like you never know."
* * *
There's one thing I can't get out of my mind: When I traveled with Almond this summer to do a story on the Jr. Jazz clinics around the state, there were people in places like Price and Roosevelt who said he might as well have been given the kiss of death.
They talked about how many players came one summer and were gone the next season. Dee Brown was the most recent, but before him were Keith McLeod and Kris Humphries and Kirk Snyder and a host of others.
I mentioned it to Almond today and he joked that when he heard the list of players who'd gone before him, he realized that it wasn't exactly the greatest company as far as having a future with the Jazz.
* * *
Just wanted to make a clarification from an earlier post. Although the Jazz declined the option, Almond does not need to give his consent to any trade.
--Ross Siler
That was the first thing Morris Almond said when I approached him this morning before Jazz practice to ask about what the team had decided as far as exercising the third-year option in his rookie contract.
No, I hadn't heard, and I have to say I was stunned to learn that the Jazz weren't going to do so. Starting with the 2005 draft class, the NBA has guaranteed only the first two years of contracts for first-round picks, but it's rare for teams not to pick up a third-year option.
By my count, Almond becomes the fifth player not to have his third-year option picked up, joining Patrick O'Bryant, Yaroslav Korolev, Julius Hodge and Shannon Brown. Almond definitely has to worry now about just staying in the league past this season.
Rookie contracts are typically so cheap (relatively speaking, of course) - - Almond was to make $1.157 million for 2009-10 - - that those options are no-brainers for teams to exercise.
The pressure is now on Almond to prove he belongs in the NBA, as well as for the Jazz to get something in return for a first-round pick. There are differences of opinion, as well, as to whether Almond is a more attractive trade chip without the option rather than with it.
It's hard to see him as more than an expiring contract for any general manager looking to trade with the Jazz. With the option, Almond is a player you can develop for the remainder of this season and possibly next season before having to make any free-agent decisions.
From Almond's perspective, he could cash in as a free agent this summer if he has a productive season. He'll hit the free-agent market at least one and more likely two summers before anyone else from his draft class.
Of course, that's contingent on Almond finding a team where he can play. There's no guarantee of that right now. There's not a lot of trades made this time of year, when teams are busy seeing what they have at the start of a season.
"They're not going to give him away, they're going to try to find a deal," said Lon Babby, Almond's agent. "I can't control that other than by working on this end where we can."
Out of the four players who had their third-year options declined, three are no longer in the NBA. O'Bryant is the exception, signing a two-year, $1.7 million contract with Boston. Almond, meanwhile, said the whole process felt like going through the draft a second time.
My guess is that he will find a home. No matter how often Jerry Sloan criticized him for not having a more well-rounded game when it came to defense, passing and rebounding, Almond is an NBA-caliber shooter and there are still plenty of teams looking for those players.
Where Almond ends up is anybody's guess. He's still under contract to the Jazz and might have to play out this season with them (or the D-League's Utah Flash). The Jazz could try to re-sign him next summer, but I think it's a given that Almond is moving on.
Other than the Jazz, the two teams most interested in him before the draft were San Antonio and Detroit. Oklahoma City also could be a possibility with general manager Sam Presti having come from the Spurs and assistant GM Troy Weaver from the Jazz.
What's most stunning is that the Jazz decided Almond wasn't in their plans after watching a total of two summer leagues, two preseasons, 34 games in the NBA Development League, nine actual NBA games, 39 actual NBA minutes and 13 actual NBA points.
Will Almond be the next Mo Williams, a player the Jazz have to wish they'd held on to longer?
It depends on whether Kyle Korver leaves as a free agent after this season, whether they can sign Ronnie Brewer to an extension and - - I think this is No. 1 - - whether C.J. Miles lives up to the offer sheet the Jazz decided to match this summer.
Most interesting right now is that Almond has a spot on the active roster. He likely will until Matt Harpring's return. After struggling so much to find minutes for Almond as a rookie, there's a chance the Jazz might actually have to count on him now.
Can you imagine Almond having to play fourth-quarter minutes for a team that decided he wasn't worth bringing back next season?
"That's kind of the beauty of it," Almond said. "It's like you never know."
* * *
There's one thing I can't get out of my mind: When I traveled with Almond this summer to do a story on the Jr. Jazz clinics around the state, there were people in places like Price and Roosevelt who said he might as well have been given the kiss of death.
They talked about how many players came one summer and were gone the next season. Dee Brown was the most recent, but before him were Keith McLeod and Kris Humphries and Kirk Snyder and a host of others.
I mentioned it to Almond today and he joked that when he heard the list of players who'd gone before him, he realized that it wasn't exactly the greatest company as far as having a future with the Jazz.
* * *
Just wanted to make a clarification from an earlier post. Although the Jazz declined the option, Almond does not need to give his consent to any trade.
--Ross Siler
4:19 PM
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10 Comments:
Ross....have the Jazz stated that they wished they held on to Mo Williams longer? It seems like we wouldn't have drafted D-Will if we planned on Mo Williams being our PG.....and I can't imagine he would have been content to play 8-12 minutes a night behind Deron.
No, the Jazz never stated anything about Mo. I think Silar is just assuming that they regret letting him go in the expansion draft (Bobcats). But I have to think that they dont regret it. He is like Almond in that he is shoot first point guard (remember Arroyo.
Although Mo was ridiculously quick I just dont think that Sloan cares for this type of player.
Ross, it seems like you are irritated by the Jazz decision to move on from Almond. You must have developed a relationship with him these past few years, eh? I guess you have no choice when your hangin out in places like Price and Blanding. HA HA!
This is so stupid. In every decision you need to weigh the upside and the downside. The upside of keeping Almond is him developing into an effective NBA player, particularly since they risk losing Korver at the end of the season. The downside would have been paying out $1MM, which is extremely cheap in the NBA.
Maybe he becomes a good NBA player, maybe he's out of the league in a year. Bottom line, no one knows how good he can be because his playing time has been so limited. The kid can shoot, at a high level, and that is a skill that's always valued in the NBA. Why you don't keep his as insurance in case Korver leaves, or CJ or Brewer gets hurt, makes absolutely no sense.
I'm pretty sure O'Connor publicly expressed his regret, in the context that it ended up not mattering because of D-Will. They let him go, as a restricted free agent and not in the expansion draft, to the milwaukee bucks and not to the charlotte bobcats, for 1 million or so. This was the summer before they drafted Deron Williams. It wasn't a decision of D-Will or Mo. It was a young, promising, but unproven Mo Williams against Carlos Arroyo. The season after they went 42-40.
C-well is confusing him with sasha pavlovic, and jbk has his dates wrong.
kim- So you think they need to keep 4 shooting guards on the roster? Even with three there's a minute crunch. Disaster can strike, but you can't plan for every contingency. If they need another inexperienced shooter they can just draft one next year. They need the roster spot for a big man. Memo, Booz, and Millsap can walk out next year as well and Booz is injury prone. It seems like a trade is in the works from what Ross wrote in the article. Hopefully they can get a piece to bolster the front line.
Thanks to everyone for their comments. Sometimes things strike you as a lose-lose for all parties. Morris Almond now faces the prospect of being out of the NBA next season. The Jazz risk getting little or nothing in return for a first-round draft pick. It will be interesting to see whether the Jazz can work out a deal for Almond or whether Almond is stuck until or beyond the trading deadline.
--Ross
Steve
To make this decision just based on the number of shooting guards they have on the team right now is short sighted. Plus, each of these players have been used interchangeably between the 2 and 3.
It's called optionality. You want to get a valuable big man for a little used shooting guard? Fantastic idea, so does everyone else. Drafting another guard next year just sets them back -- you're essentially trading a potential 3rd year player for a rookie.
Lastly, I don't understand why the Jazz didn't exercise the option for another year, even if they want to trade him. Now they've signaled they're sellers and I'm not sure why a team would want to sign Almond when he can walk away at the end of the year.
Steve,
your right it was Sasha that the Jazz left free in the expansion draft (sorry). Mo signed as a free agent with the Bucks in '04
I find this to be a very interesting situation . . . there has to be another factor involve that we are not aware of. It's really hard to know where a guy fits (if it does at all) if all you do is play him 4.3 mpg in 13 (or so) NBA games. If Almond goes anywhere I hope he goes to Detroit, as he has the potential offensive skill set of Rip Hamilton (and is able to get his points off of midrange shots off screens, and so forth).
Stockton had 3 years of internship and got lots of MPG each year -- in his 4th he got the starting job for good and averaged double what his previous output was. He became a HOF player.
Mo Williams was gone after 1 season, but ended up being better than the two guys the Jazz decided to keep. He's not a bad player (getting 17 and 6 two years in a row); and him being on the Jazz would not have prevented AK and Boozer from getting injured the season we became a lotto team and ended up taking Deron Williams.
Look at Kris Humphries, he got 2 seasons here and had no clue. But he still ended up averaging 6 and 4 last season and is a rotation player in Toronto. He's better than Jarron Collins (1.7 and 1.7), but were kept collins instead (they both play back up center, humphries being 1 inch shorter than collins).
I'm sure Almond can be a good role player, and unlike Harpring, his best days are still ahead of him. Hard to get rid of a rookie who gets to the line 10 times a game (though in the NBA DL) . . . it's a shame in my mind that this is happening.
best of luck in the future, Morris!
I never said they could get a valuable big man for almond. I said they needed the roster spot for a potential contributor. I don't care how much you like Almond, he isn't going to be contributing this year.
Even though some of those players can play the 3, the jazz have used their other small forwards at the 2 (as well as Deron Williams and Ronnie Price) in critical situations. There are 8 (AK, Harp, Brewer, Price, Miles, Korver, D-will, Almond)players on the team that can play shooting guard, in the pecking order Almond is number 8.
Anyway, I think they can trade almond to a team that wants an expiring contract and not a little used shooting guard with another year on his tab. Or they can just let his contract expire which gives them a little more flexibility to sign any of the players who can walk away next year. And teams don't have to worry about Almond walking away, because Almond isn't ready to contribute and nobody is going to pay him based off the kind of d-league success that leaves Jerry Sloan shaking his head in disgust.
Also, have you considered next summer's free agency in detail? Every article about the Jazz mentions that 8 players could potentially walk away to the division rivals gearing up with tons of cap space. They all want a raise. If they trade Almond next year they still have to take something back, unless they just take back a draft pick. Right now the Jazz are 5 million under a Luxury tax that Larry Miller is hesitant to pay and that's before Deron's raise kicks in. Personally, I think not picking up Almond's deal preserves more options than it eliminates.
He seems like a good kid, though, and I worry about his potential to become a Michael Redd type of star, but even if he did he'd probably end up looking more like Giricek if he stayed in Utah.
This steve guy is a GENIUS! Im glad he is around to put us all in our place.
I would be interested to see where O'Conner said he regrets the Mo Williams departure.
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