NBA Draft Preview: Jimmer must play for Utah Jazz to maximize earning potential

If the Jazz do take him in the upcoming NBA Draft, then both parties, and many others, would be deliriously happy, right? 

 

That's one train of thought. It is what it is; Jimmer is a hometown boy--sort of, he’s from upstate NY--and so the Jazz have the right to take him, and should take him, based on his earning potential.

 

Isn’t that what rookie contracts are all about, the P-word? Hope Jazz GM Kevin O’Connor is listening. 

 

If you were in O’Connor’s shoes, you take a chance on a kid, and you essentially determine--without him playing one NBA game--what kind of impact this player will have on your team in four or five years. 

 

Ideally, you hope beyond hope that this kid will blow up rather than flame out, and make you and your shareholders a pile of money that you can take all the way to the bank. 

 

It’s gambling, sure, but it’s all legal, and NBA teams do this sort of thing every year. 

 

If the argument is that NBA teams are essentially gambling on a kid's future, the caveat is this: in order for Jimmer to maximize his earning potential in the NBA, he must play for one certain team. 

 

That team? The Jazz. Why? The answer is as complex and convoluted as the question preceding it, or is it? 

 

The answer centers on normally taboo topics like religion, meanders around cultural norms and talks about values, character and doing the right thing in life, and stops somewhere at the corner of Temple Square for a caffeine-free Coke, to be frank. 

 

In other words, Jimmer is Mormon, and that might make all the difference in the world, to some who live in Utah.  

 

In Jimmer’s case, this decision the Jazz must make is all about religion and it’s absolutely about where you come from--or in Jimmer’s case, where you feel most comfortable--because signing Jimmer to a max rookie deal just makes sense, especially for the team’s immediate future. 

 

Jimmer stands to make, just in his first year alone, millions based on his marketing value, and that’s cash, frankly, that the Jazz can use. 

 

Here’s the thing: Jimmer is not necessarily the best player in the draft, nor is he the player most capable of helping the Jazz in a basketball sense. The Jazz already have Raja Bell at shooting guard, and he's signed and locked in for the next two years. Where Jimmer helps the Jazz is probably off the bench at the two, or maybe even the point (Earl Watson and Ronnie Price must be re-signed also this offseason). 

 

Jimmer is, however, the person most capable of helping the Jazz in a financial way, and so it has to be tempting to KOC and other Jazz brass to think about taking a chance on a guy who literally could help your team build on its already fiercely loyal fan base and provide immediate financial incentive, even before Fredette played one game. 

 

Talk about potential. It's what most NBA owners would die for. 

 

Kentucky guard Brandon Knight can’t offer this kind of potential, though he is the player the Jazz are reportedly interested in the most with the third pick, though Knight’s recent stance to play by himself in workouts has a few NBA teams angry. 

 

Neither can Turkish center Enes Kanter, the purported No. 1 Kyrie Irving, nor Derrick Williams. Zip, zilch, nada, zero. 

And so, it all comes down to W.W.J.D., or What Would Jimmer Do? 

 

Get out your bracelets, because not only are these limited edition trinkets likely on their way to Utah, so are umpteen other keepsakes, if and only if the “Great White Hope” is selected by your Jazz. 

 

Who’s licensing said merchandise? Who cares! If a guy on the street, say North Temple and Fairpark, is selling Jimmer T-shirts licensed or not, they would go out the door as quickly as they would if they were being sold on 300 West and John Stockton Drive. 

 

If you think your Jimmer isn’t doing or hasn’t done his homework, here’s what he’s doing, for starters. He had the same people who commissioned Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer’s poster also create a Jimmer poster, just as soon as the ink ran dry on Jimmer's college eligibility. 

 

Then, a guy by the name of David Checketts had this little production company in New York, and so all that happened next is that Jimmer is now starring in his own reality show, and it now sees regular, updated airplay on Sports Illustrated’s Web site and is also a hit on YouTube. 

 

Around that time, about 30 agents invaded Provo to convince Jimmer and his “team,” comprised of lawyers, family members and people there for the kid’s best interests, that they would be the right fit for his millions.  

 

In sum, Jimmer’s network is as complex as the Osmond Family, and as calculated as David Archuleta's.  

 

For Jimmer, all he has to do is let his basketball do the talking, and hope that the Jazz offer him the opportunity of a lifetime, to play in the same organization as his idol, Stockton. 

 

For his "team," it’s crafting a passion play to a team in a state in which their client played his college ball and is already a cult hero. 

 

For the Jazz, It’s their chance to rewrite history, because the Jazz have never before drafted a player from an in-state college. 

 

So where does this ride stop if you’re a Jazz fan? Is it where an abnormal buzz of activity sucks up an otherwise normal day? Where thousands line up for a chance to meet their savior? Madison Avenue couldn’t pay enough for this kind of notoriety in a place that typically spreads cheer, goodwill and deep faith in God among its brethren. 

 

Imagine giant Jimmer banners spanning windows of skyscrapers proclaiming his arrival, neither in the Big Apple, nor Indy. 

 

Think it can’t happen? Or, that it won’t happen? Jimmer as Utah’s answer to LeBron, with the former Cougar's likeness overwhelming Salt Lake City's skyline? Surely you jest. 

 

Consider this: the Jazz aren’t necessarily at the top of NBA teams when it comes to having significant cash flow. In turn, they must figure out a way to pay for what would likely be a four-year deal worth between $1 million to $5 million per player per year, and that's all dependent on where Jimmer, or any of the other hopefuls, is picked.

 

If the Jazz do keep their two lottery picks, then they're gonna shell out at least $5 million in the first year alone on two unproven players.  

 

The team is currently ranked fifth among all NBA franchises in terms of its payroll. That means the Jazz are looking to make money any way they can, frankly, and if that means parading Jimmer around like their long lost savior who has come to rescue them from impending fiscal doom, it could happen. 

 

And, it will happen, particularly if they only have to pick him 12th, or, better yet, grab him later via the trade route if his draft stock somehow drops--which probably won’t happen according to recent media reports--and if the Jazz trade one or both of their lottery picks. 

 

It’s probably more likely that the Jazz would trade their third pick away than the 12th. That’s due to the pick’s value, but if a deal can be reached for the one they call Andrei Kirilenko, shoot, anything is possible. 

 

A few names other than Jimmer's have come up as possibilities for that 12th pick of late, though the Jazz did head over to Europe to check out several possibilities this past week. 

 

At the moment, the Jazz haven’t re-signed one player whose contract is set to expire in 2011-12, and that includes Andrei Kirilenko. 

 

Does AK-47 stand to make as much this year as he did last year when he collected $17.8 million? Likely not. The main reason is that the Jazz--who previously under the late Larry H. Miller were known for being tightwads in an NBA sense--now must pay a $5 million luxury tax, and that’s coming with a lockout on the near-horizon. 

 

The lockout, which could go down anytime between June 23 and into July, happens to come at a most inopportune time for the Jazz, just after the Draft itself and immediately before Greg Miller has to sit down and write out a $5 million check to the league. 

 

Things in life are not fair, but especially in this case, life is definitely not for a small-market team expected to win while battling the L.A. Lakers and Miami Heat teams of the professional basketball world. 

 

How do you compete if you’re the Jazz, under such harsh terms? You find a way to make yourself marketable, and drafting Jimmer would certainly be a start.