The Utah Jazz tied their tanking season in a bow with their loss to the Timberwolves, as doing so gives them the best overall lottery odds possible. The losing is over, so the Jazz can turn to the fun part of the year for them: the offseason.
The Jazz's offseason will primarily be determined by where their highest pick lands. However, the Jazz will need to address other pressing needs in the coming months. Now that their season is over, ESPN's Bobby Marks went over what the Jazz have to do this offseason.
That included giving an overview of what their payroll and roster availability will look like.
"With two first-round picks in June and 15 players under contract, expect Utah to act like a team over the cap this summer. Including both firsts and $15 million in non-guaranteed contracts (a total of $15 million), Utah is right at the salary cap," Marks wrote.
On top of that, the Jazz also have two second-round picks, though no one would blame them if those get traded, dumped, or used on players who become draft-and-stashes. Marks also elaborated further on the Jazz's free agency situation.
"The contracts of Svi Mykhailiuk ($3.7 million) and Johnny Juzang ($2.8 million) become guaranteed if they are on the roster after June 30. John Collins has until June 27 to opt in to his $26.6 million salary. Utah will have the non-tax midlevel ($14.1 million), biannual ($5.1 million), second-round, and veteran minimum exception available. They also have a $3.5 million trade exception."
KJ Martin also has a nonguaranteed contract for $8 million next season. Jaden Springer has a nonguaranteed contract for $2.6 million until July 25 when it becomes partially guaranteed if he's not waived.
The Jazz will have to do something to make room because the roster is full even without their incoming draft picks. It wouldn't be hard to fix this issue, but the conundrum is asking what the best way is to fix this issue.
How the Jazz will approach these non-guaranteed contracts is the question
The simplest way to solve this is to waive the quartet of Mykhailiuk, Martin, Springer, and Juzang, but it's not that simple. Some of these players are worth keeping around, or, more optimistically, they can be used to acquire someone who is better.
Of the players who are most likely to be waived this summer, Mykhailiuk and Springer are the easiest candidates. Martin and Juzang on the other hand are both young and have proven that they can be rotation players. It's not like their franchise cornerstones, but they could be part of the Jazz's future or used to acquire an upgrade who fits Utah's timeline.
Then there are the players with player options like Collins. He's opting in, which puts him on an expiring contract along with Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson. They all can also be acquired for an upgrade, or if the Jazz don't think they need one just yet, they can be used to acquire albatross contracts with draft assets or young players involved.
It's not like the Jazz's long-term future hangs in the balance from a situation like this, but a roster crunch can be a problem that can get worse if it's not taken care of immediately. Pending any surprises, the next big Jazz story will be which pick they wind up with, which could play a role in what they do with their overabundance of players on their roster.