No franchise will be facing anything quite like the Jazz during this summer of unprecedented salary cap space.
Utah has every one of its key players under contract for the 2016-17 season already, with serious cap space on top of it. However, the long-term impact of present spending will be readily apparent as well.
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Adding George Hill in a trade with the Pacers and Hawks gives the franchise a veteran and a stable point guard to go alongside Dante Exum, who returns from a year out with a knee injury. Now the Jazz must figure out how else they want to fortify this core.
Let’s start by looking at their free agents and salary cap situation.
Potential free agents: Jeff Withey (non-guaranteed), Trevor Booker (unrestricted), Shelvin Mack (non-guaranteed) and Chris Johnson (non-guaranteed)
Likely cap space: $24.9 million.
Realistic maximum cap space (using $94 million estimate): $26 million
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Every single member of the Jazz should expect a pay raise on their next deal, from cornerstones Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward to bench players Trey Burke and Tibor Pleiss. Center Rudy Gobert will be eligible for an extension this summer, though the team could go the Kawhi Leonard/Andre Drummond route and maximize his hilariously low cap hold in 2017 by not agreeing to terms this year.
Hayward also is a year away from free agency, but the team cannot negotiate an extension with him due to the league’s restrictive rules. Seeing those two huge contracts on the horizon with Favors a year behind could chill Utah’s interest in making a big splash. However, one other use of Utah’s space could be agreeing to a renegotiation and extension with Favors in October, which could raise his 2016-17 and 2017-18 salary while adding up to two additional seasons to his contract. They could actually do a straight extension or a renegotiation and extension with new addition George Hill as well but the presence of Dante Exum makes that harder to justify for the Jazz.
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At the same time, adding another piece could help secure a playoff berth for next season. This combination of pressures could also make the Jazz a factor on the trade market since those players will presumably be on shorter deals more compatible with the Utah’s financial pressures. If they are willing to part with some of their draft assets, there could be some truly compelling options on the table as other franchises focus more on creating cap space.
Utah could also face somewhat of a roster crunch as only one of the fifteen players on their 2015-16 team can leave of his own volition this summer. Withey, Mack and Johnson are all on cheap contracts for next season, but the team can only carry 15 players during the season and will need spots for Hill and any further additions, including their three second-round selections. The Jazz already have the rights to one additional first-rounder and three extra seconds in 2017 but could move some of their existing talent this summer for even more low-end picks since their players will be cheaper than comparable talent on the open market.
Look for Utah to shop some of the other point guards they have under contract behind Hill and Exum. Burke has one more season on a cheap contract and then match rights as a restricted free agent, while Mack has a single season at about $2.4 million and Raul Neto has two more years with about $1 million in salary. The Jazz should listen to offers on all three and anticipate keeping at least one to be a depth piece since point guard injury troubles cost them a playoff berth last season.
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While a modest summer feels like the most likely outcome, the sheer possibilities for the Jazz are incredible. With a full young playoff caliber roster they still possess enough cap space to max out almost any player in the league. It would be a shame for that kind of potential to go to waste.