The Utah Jazz cutting Vince Williams Jr. confirmed a harsh reality in the NBA: If you are both injured and expendable, you lose your spot. Hence, Williams is out of a job. However, the Jazz are doing this already when they could have just waited until the offseason to signal they wanted to get ahead of what should be their most chaotic offseason since 2022.
The Jazz already got ahead of building for next year's team when they traded for Jaren Jackson Jr., but on top of paying him, along with Lauri Markkanen, they know that they must turn to paying three of their most important players on the team: Keyonte George, Walker Kessler, and Jusuf Nurkic.
Williams' dismissal felt inevitable, but Utah didn't waste their time. There's no telling if they would have done that if he hadn't gotten hurt, but with so many contract situations up in the air, they had to penny pinch and clearly wanted to get ahead on that front.
Utah will spend like crazy this summer
The talk of the town in Utah this summer has been re-signing Kessler, and that will definitely be a priority. The question will be how much the Jazz want to pay Kessler. He wants to be paid like a franchise player, and Utah wants to pay him like an excellent starting center.
The expectation is that it's going to drag out, but no matter how it all resolves, the Jazz will pay a hefty fee to retain his services. Everyone has known that since even before the season began. Making it harder now is the upcoming extension the Jazz will give George this summer.
Not *could* give, will give.
George's ascension played a huge role in the Jazz's quick move to get JJJ when they had the chance, as those two, along with Kessler and Lauri Markkanen, will make Utah very formidable in the West. It's also why the Jazz will likely be stingy with the price they're willing to pay Kessler.
Then there's Nurkic. Nurk might not be nearly as valuable as George or Kessler, but he played well enough that he will want more than the veteran's minimum. With how impressive he was in Utah, as they gave him the opportunity to show how much juice was left in his tank, he's going to expect more, especially after his contract season was cut short.
That could mean more Williams-like moves are coming
Kyle Filipowski, Isaiah Collier, Brice Sensabaugh, and Cody Williams won't be on rookie contracts for long, and while they are not as impressive or as important as George or Kessler, it's likely they'll want raises when the time comes.
Utah might get ahead of that and pull what Philly did with Jaren McCain. They might not do it right away, but never say never. They want this team to be ripe for contention for years, and that could mean some of their young talent will be sacrificed to make that happen.
Things are expected to get epic for Utah next season, but that comes at a price. The Jazz are well aware of this, so don't be surprised if we see more moves like the one they just did with Williams.