SALT LAKE CITY, UT - There's no doubt about it, Steph Curry has been a steal and a wonderful addition in the year and a half he's spent in Utah. Entering free agency at 34 year old, though, has posed a dilemma and decision to be made by both parties involved.
"Look, we want Steph back - no doubt about it," added GM OCons. "He's certainly approaching the age that people TALK about declining and being more of a negative but then you see guys at 35, 36, etc. getting pretty big contracts so nobody walks the walk on that point. We think he's still got it and are engaged in discussion with his team to bring him back at a fair price. It feels like that's what this free agency class is made of for some reason"
The big prize and main focus for Utah, this off season, is clearly Kristaps Porzingis but there is no question what happens there. Where the Jazz need to make decisions is whether or not Curry's $32 million cap hold is worth retaining since he won't be getting a 5 year offer from anyone. Or, do they extend qualifying offers to Bojan Bogdanovic and Ish Smith - both of which are valuable producers in the league but find themselves on a deep team in Utah. Lastly, is Bogdan Bogdanovic, perhaps the next priority for the team outside of Porzingis. He is unrestricted but young enough to get a longer term offer.
As a result of these decisions, the Jazz have brought in a few analytics and money ball experts to crunch some numbers. Will it be worth it for the team to retain everyone's rights and play it safe or should they maximize their available cap space and become players in the market? The team has been known to make some savvy decisions but have never been put in this situation before.
"We've got a couple of tough decisions to make over the next couple days. World renowned GM extraordinaire, Marcos, has published his impressive , yet sneaky, list of top free agents. GMs are floating names and numbers that are all but clear smoke screens left and right. We can't look at that stuff. For now, we're looking around in the Sign and Trade market but will be more than happy to bring everyone back."
