Jazz in Trade Market with No Buyers
Nobody doubts that the Utah Jazz can make the playoffs, it’s just that nobody expects them to do anything relevant when they get there. With the ninth highest salary payout of any NBA team ($77.3 million in 2009-10), the Jazz would prefer to lose in the playoffs with a cheaper roster. So they’re trying to clear the books of an inflated roster salary by moving Carlos Boozer, Andre Kirilenko and others…but nobody’s biting.

The only guy the Jazz aren’t willing to move is all-world point guard Deron William, who is averaging 19.5 points and 9.8 helpers this season. He’s the team’s most productive player and under no circumstances do you ship a point guard as talented as Williams. He can carry that team for years. It’s just that at 18-16 SU/ATS, the Jazz aren’t exactly thrilling fans or basketball betting investors with their current crop of talent.

Andrei Kirilenko is the biggest vampire on the Jazz’s pocket book, raking in $16.4 million this season and $17.8 million next season. Currently a sixth man in the rotation, Kirilenko averages just 11.1 points, 4.6 boards and 2.9 assists in 29.4 minutes per game. Sounds enticing for a guy who makes more money than Kevin Garnett, Amare Stoudemire, Zach Randolph and Joe Johnson doesn’t it?

The forward that the Jazz are more likely to move is Carlos Boozer, who will be a mercenary rental player at best for any team trading to get him. The former Duke standout makes $12.7 million this year, but is a wildly productive 20-10 guy that almost any team would love to have. I’ve joked that a return to Cleveland is the best move for Boozer and the Cavs, so that he can combine with LeBron to form the championship tandem they were supposed to be before Boozer unceremoniously jumped ship. Fact is that Boozer is a prime complimentary banger for big scorers like Durant, Wade or LeBron.

The problem for Utah is that he’s only costing them $12.7 million this year and they’d rather wipe his salary off the books when he walks in free agency next year. He’s also turned his back in Lebron already, and teased the crap out of Wade this past summer. Jerry Sloan has already said he’d rather keep Boozer instead of getting low-balled by offers, and the Jazz have secured Paul Milsap with a lofty deal that will keep him in Utah until the summer of 2013.

The rest of Utah’s roster is pretty useless. Ronnie Brewer ($2.2M), Kyle Korver ($5.5M) and Mehmet Okur ($9M) don’t exactly blow anybody’s socks off and it’s not like Utah will trade any of its marquee players away from scraps. They still want the playoff revenue.

The case of the Jazz is resonated by a large cluster of NBA teams that exceed the luxury tax. Getting returns on massive payroll is the wish of every NBA owner. Very few times can a team like Portland be so potent with just $56.7 million dedicated to salaries in a basketball betting season. More often than not you get teams like the Knicks, Wizards and Cavs which are overspending on questionable championship material. The plight of the Jazz and Jerry Sloan is a sign that frugal changes are coming to the spending habits of NBA teams. It’s about damn time.

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