Now that the offseason is officially underway for everyone, the Utah Jazz have to focus on resolving the Walker Kessler contract situation. Despite this offseason still being in its infant stages, we've already got our first Kessler bombshell: Utah is willing to offer him a five-year deal worth almost up to $140 million.
Kessler apparently does not like this offer, believing that he can get more, as initially reported by ESPN's Tim MacMahon. Reading the tea leaves, this is likely how Kessler extension talks will look like throughout the summer.
But the fact of the matter is, what Utah has offered Kessler to start is a pretty fair deal for his services. Kessler's entitled to believe he's worth more, but for someone who has never made an All-Star team, missed most of last season, and has had an up-and-down tenure in Utah, the Jazz are making an offer that's both fair for his services and an ode of confidence in what he can do for them.
It's perfectly reasonable if Kessler believe he is worth more, but to the point where he thinks he's going to get a lot more on the open market? Uh... sure.
But the overarching point here is that the Jazz aren't messing around, especially after the report that he's frustrated with how they've handled his situation. They are simultaneously sending the message that they value Kessler enough to not want to lose him, but also don't want to make his deal too expensive for what he brings.
He is among the Jazz's most irreplaceable players, but he is also a complementary piece, not the main ingredient.
The Jazz should hold firm but be ready to match any offer out there
Kessler probably will have some suitors with money to force the Jazz's hand. Even so, Utah should be more than happy to match anything that he gets offered. It's very possible, maybe even likely, that Kessler will get offered more by someone else.
Even so, it's hard to see him getting superstar money. We currently live in an era in which teams have become much smarter about how they handle their money. At this time a decade ago, teams spent like crazy on mid players just because they could. They don't do that now primarily because they don't want to deal with the ramifications of the NBA's tax aprons.
Kessler's not mid. Far from it in fact, but he's not getting a max contract from someone. The days of guys like him getting paid a much bigger sum than what he's worth appear to be gone. It's very possible someone could give him a bigger deal than what Utah is offering, but that shouldn't intimidate them.
No one is saying Kessler is wrong or the bad guy in this situation, but how Utah has handled this has indicated that they definitely are not playing this situation wrong in the slightest.
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