2009 Utah Jazz free agent update

July 14, 12:20 PMUtah Jazz ExaminerJeff Lockard

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Regardless of what transpires this off-season, it will be a summer that shapes the franchise for years to come.  Three Jazz players making headlines this week are Mehmet Okur, Paul Millsap and Carlos Boozer.

Mehmet Okur - Okur and the Utah Jazz reached an agreement on a two year contract extension that will keep Okur in a Jazz uniform through the 2012 season. The deal was reached late last week and is estimated at $20.8 million. The move indicates that Utah’s front office feels confident with the current construction of the team. Signing Okur to this extension all but eliminates any chance of making a splash in next summer’s free agent frenzy. The Jazz do have two first round picks next year and could look to either bolster the team through the draft or include one or both of the picks in a trade.

Paul Millsap - Millsap received and signed an offer sheet from the Portland Trailblazers last Friday night estimated between $32 and $36 million over four years. According to ESPN, the deal is front loaded and includes a significant signing bonus. If the financial terms being reported are correct, the Jazz would be approximately $10 million dollars over the luxury tax threshold for the 2009-10 season. In accordance to league policy, if the Jazz match Portland’s offer they will be obligated to match dollar for dollar the $10 million with luxury tax fees. The Jazz have seven days to match the offer and will likely continue to shop both Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko in an attempt to reduce payroll. If the Jazz are unable to move either Boozer or Kirilenko, Utah’s front office will have a difficult decision next week.

Carlos Boozer - It appears Boozer’s days in Utah are numbered. Utah GM Kevin O’Connor has never wavered from his comments regarding matching any and all offers made to Paul Millsap. Plus, rumors are now surfacing that a high ranking Jazz official expressed to Boozer that the team is going in a different direction. All are bad signs for the 20 to 30 percent of Jazz fans that want Boozer back in Salt Lake City next season. Would the Jazz be better next season with Boozer in the line-up? Yes, but given the financial situation that Utah finds itself in, it’s time to move on. The problem is that 29 other teams all realize the same thing. Teams will not offer fair market value for Boozer, there’s no reason to given the circumstances.

Questions to ask:

• If Utah can not find a trade partner for Boozer by Friday, will they take the calculated risk of matching Millsap’s offer anyway?
• Can Utah afford to go $10 million over the luxury tax threshold? Remember that $10 million is actually $20 million in outgoing revenue. ($10 million in payroll expense and $10 million in luxury tax fees to the league)
• Was the deal involving Portland, Utah and Chicago closer to getting done than originally reported?
• Was it Utah that held up the deal and not the Blazers?
• Portland reportedly balked on the deal because they wouldn’t include Jerryd Bayless, would they have included him if Utah added another player or draft pick?
• Was Millsap’s signing an attempt by Portland to facilitate the Boozer trade?

Some of these questions will be answered by the end of the week; others may never be answered honestly.