If leaked salary cap projections hold true, the Utah Jazz could have a lot of money to spend over the next two offseasons.
The Utah Jazz’s decision to stand pat this summer didn’t exactly make for a thrilling offseason. Quite frankly, it was boring — especially for people who were tasked with covering it. Trust me on that one.
Having said that, the team’s continuity and potential for internal growth should be a major assets in the year ahead. Also: the lack of movement now gives the Jazz a greater ability to make a real splash next summer and beyond. And the splash zone only looks to be getting bigger.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania got ahold of the NBA’s salary cap projections for the next two seasons and, well, let’s just say they’re favorable for a team like the Jazz who had already been targeting 2019 and 2020 as the time to play the market.
Per Charania, the league is anticipating a jump of more than $7 million — from $101.9 to $109 million — in the cap from this year to next. In turn, the luxury tax threshold is expected to go from just under $124 to $132 million. The 2020 spike is expected to be even greater, with a cap projection around $118 million.
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Meanwhile, the Jazz have a ton of money set to free up over the next two years. Ricky Rubio, Alec Burks, Ekpe Udoh and Thabo Sefolosha all come off the books this summer. That equates to $35 million in player salary.
Moreover, Derrick Favors, Raul Neto, Georges Niang and Royce O’Neale are all on non/partial guarantees for 2019-20 and the team holds an option on former first-round pick Tony Bradley. Finally, Rudy Gobert won’t be a free agent until 2021 and the team will maintain control with Donovan Mitchell for the next several years.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey will likely explore extensions with both players, but until those come to fruition, Gobert and Mitchell are locked-in on team-friendly deals.
So, too, are Joe Ingles, Dante Exum and Grayson Allen. The latter will be on his rookie deal, and while some questioned the money doled out to Ingles and Exum when they signed their deals, those dollar figures become less and less substantial with each bump of the cap.
Assuming the team retains O’Neale on his current deal and Mitchell plays for his rookie-scaled $3.6 million next season, the Jazz could have somewhere in the neighborhood of $47 million under the cap ($70 million under tax) to play with during the summer of ’19.
That number will likely shrink some with things like cap holds and first-round pick salary, but the potential for big-money moves is evident. And if the Jazz take a minimalist approach this offseason, they’ll have even more flexibility in the ’20 market.
Now, Lindsey won’t spend just for the sake of doing so. It’s not in his nature to play fast and loose with the Miller family’s money and the Jazz have always been a team that carefully considers the possible long-term impact, positive and negative, of every move they make. Almost to a fault.
But as the Gobert, Mitchell and Quin Snyder-led Jazz continue their ascent toward the top of the Association, Lindsey should have the resources necessary to help get his team over the hump, should an opportunity rise.
Really, this is just another of the many reasons it’s a good time to be a fan in Jazzland.