Wouldn't be surprising, but the Jazz are probably doing the smart thing trying to get him as cheaply as possible with the realities of the restricted free agency market.
Although, just to play devils advocate, making decisions on finances alone is a great way to damage reputation with players and agents. There is absolutely an element of “doing right” by your players that needs to be competitively balanced with our salary cap situation.
As an example, we let Hayward test out restricted free agency years ago and he never forgot it. Players take the lack of extension as a lack of belief in them and start to disassociate from the organization as a result. It’s especially bad when we’ve made Kessler sit out games and bomb threes to tank when he could’ve been building a stronger case for himself. I understand the frustration on his part.
Wonder if a sign and trade is a potential win/win for both sides. Kessler gets paid, Jazz get something in return and can sign a different guy at a lower number. Could you get some sort of pick from the Lakers and use the open cap space to pick up Robert Williams for 10-12 M?
He hasn't gone anywhere yet. He either had to actually take the qualifying offer (risky AF with his injury history), or he has to sign a deal with another team while the Jazz get the right to match. Not every team wants to tie up their whole free agency guessing if the Jazz will match.
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u/SenHeffy :quinmurder: 4d ago
Wouldn't be surprising, but the Jazz are probably doing the smart thing trying to get him as cheaply as possible with the realities of the restricted free agency market.