Utah Jazz: 5 takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season
5. Jazz now enter an offseason of flexibility
One thing that Utah can take away from the 2018-19 NBA season is the fact that it didn’t necessarily find itself tied into bad contracts heading into what should be an interesting offseason.
Throughout the year and nearing the trade deadline, the Jazz were tied to many rumors surrounding Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley and their desire to trade for the talented point guard to help them in the second half of the season and beyond.
One thing that was a concern when it comes to Conley, other than the fact that he appears to be in somewhat of a declining trajectory at this point in his career, is that his contract is tough to add and could make things difficult for the Jazz moving forward.
Utah ultimately didn’t end up pulling the trigger in a trade for Conley, which has put them in a good spot filled with flexibility heading into the offseason.
During the 2018-19 season, the Jazz ranked 23rd out of 30 NBA teams in overall team salary, containing a total of a little over $113 million spread over their roster.
But when looking at the roster breakdown, specifically the salary aspect of things, Utah is sitting in a fairly good spot if it wants to make a run at a free agent prior to next season.
The salaries of Ricky Rubio, Thabo Sefolosha and Ekpe Udoh come off the books this summer, with Derrick Favors holding a team option of $16.9 million in the final year of his deal in 2019-20.
Outside of those four players, all of which could potentially be on the way out of Utah if the Jazz decide to go that route, Kyle Korver (who is due $7.5 million in 2019-20), Jae Crowder (due $7.8 million), Raul Neto (due $2.1 million) and Royce O’Neale (due $1.6 million) are all coming up on the final seasons of their contracts. That could make them very movable pieces via trade if needed.
Overall, Utah is sitting in a good spot heading into the offseason and has a bunch of flexibility as the Jazz look to come back even stronger next year.