They removed this rule, they dont have to match most stipulations, right? They just have to match the money and years? Plus, if some conditions are met, they can avoid any front/back loading. Not entirely sure, CBA is dense af

From my perspective, 30m would be well worth it for the bulls if he wasn’t injured last year and just had tanker’s fever.

As far as potential vs risk goes. Selling out for Kessler isn’t terrible if you believe in his ceiling.

He was on a very hot start before going on IR and his shoulder injury shouldn’t be anything that would hamper his return.

The Jazz probably end up matching 30m is the thing. You’d have to go 35-40 to not get that sheet matched, and that’s… Not ideal.

Yeah I mean the way I see it, that money isn’t going to be spent on building a contender in the next couple years anyway. We are so early in a rebuilding schedule that it’s not a bad way to spend the money.

One’s soul. Self valuation plays a big part there

you actually pay 10% to play in those

I don’t think he changes how much he’d get paid. Their ability to pay him hadn’t been massively impacted by JJJ, he just wants more than the Jazz think he’s worth. 

That’s probably when they knew they weren’t paying them or he didn’t want them too

Nah. Reports last offseason were that he wanted too much for an extension. Rumors back then were that he wanted \(30m, apparently now he's asking for \)35m. Jazz will likely let him find an offer and match it up to a certain point.

Also JJJ being traded for improves his chances of staying, if anything. The two are a near ideal front court pairing.

If teams can’t come to agreement on extensions with RFAs that they want to keep, they generally tell them to find an offer in the open market and they’ll match it. So yeah, if the best Kessler can find is a $25m / season offer, the Jazz would have a couple days IIRC to match that.

Curl that thang baby

Kawhi, Kessler and Dunn would go crazy on defense ngl

……I’m listening…

At least we’ll be the whitest team in the league at the same time

There is simply no way anyone would give 40 to Walker. He wasn’t exactly dominating the league in Utah and playing competitive basketball, and then he misses out the entire season. I mean Duren went nuts this year and people are still not sure if he deserves the deal. Kessler never even played in the playoffs or any competitive game ever

You are overrating the shit out of Kessler. He should be happy with 30 million annually especially coming off a torn labrum.

That’s top 10 center money coming off a major injury, not bad

Why wouldn’t an AAV of 30 million get it done? He played 5 games this past season

Well, since he won’t take the QO (because it’s basically not a thing), who is going to offer more?

There’s a reason nobody takes the QO - it’s designed to be a lose / lose that’s worse for the player than the team. Even kuminga didn’t take the QO and that was a super toxic situation

The intel from the Jazz has been that they think he’s worth the $25-30m and he wants “significantly more”. If he can’t get that in RFA, then unfortunate his market just isn’t what he wants it to be. That wouldn’t be Utah’s fault, just an unfortunate reality. 

It’s even worse: any player who signs QO has a no-trade clause. Basically the only way Jazz could trade him after he signs QO is if he agrees to go to the new team.

I don’t know. From what I’m hearing, the Jazz might not be negotiating in good faith. They might be trying to squeeze him. Which makes me very nervous but we’ll see how it plays out next time on Dragonball Z

Seriously wtf is that

dont forget Keyonte George, who at this point is better than Ace Bailey

I don’t think there’s anything borderline about it. I honestly think that’s a team that can compete for a top-4 seed, get mid 50s wins, and has a puncher’s chance of making a deep deep run with the right breaks

I think they’re a gnarly jumbo-sized matchup for a lot of teams

Insane interior D, and while the perimeter D is a little leaky there is plenty of length to keep things manageable there

And that would be an offense capable of fireworks 

(And don’t forget Keyonte)

healthy and cohesive that is absolutely a top 6 starting 5 maybe top 4

Dudes just asking for too much money. Reports are he is looking for north of 30m which he just isn’t worth coming off a season lost to injury.

Cut to Kessler grinding Mandarin on Duolingo

And then when he returns his rights are still retained by the Jazz but he’ll be 30 and still only on the second contract

AR who literally every single party involved and every piece of reporting is saying will be back with the Lakers?

Hilarious people call people from Massachusetts racist when it’s one of the most progressive states in the country.

Meanwhile, in Florida, they are busy passing the Stop W.O.K.E. Act and Don’t Say Gay because they don’t want white people to feel guilty or for youth to turn gay or transgender

I hate that this was the first thing that popped into my mind.

Yeah that’s wild. I’d be okay with giving him like a 4-72 or 4-76 starting at like 15.5 a year with raises.

He’s shown the ability to be a good starting center. Not an elite center. Not has he ever played on a serious team.

Teams have to stop overpaying “good” and “solid” players and killing their team-building options

That also applies lol

Because he wants more money than he’s being offered. I didn’t say his frustration was justified, but that’s what it seems to be. His problem with Utah seems to be that they won’t give him what he wants, and no one else in RFA seems like they will either. 

3 solid seasons

1. His second year he slumped hard. So 2 solid seasons and 5 games.

No development of outside shot.

Tbf he looked like he was working on it last offseason, and was hitting threes on an extremely small sample size in those 5 games last season. Jazz coaching would know best if he’s developed that further.

What is he frustrated about, exactly?

Supposedly he wanted $30m for an extension last offseason, and now is asking for much more than that. After missing a season with injury. Probably agent smoke.