The Jazz have their window open around Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
Utah, as expected, isn’t letting it close by losing Mike Conley.
Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Free agent Mike Conley Jr. has agreed to a three-year, $68 million deal to return to the Utah Jazz, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 2, 2021
That’s not cheap for the 33-year-old Conley. But given his leverage, the Jazz did well to get him for this price. If he left, they would have had only the mid-level exception to replace him.
If fully backloaded, this contract would put Utah about $12 million into the luxury tax – which would correspond to a $21 million tax payment.
The Jazz which already traded Derrick Favors to trim payroll. They could further reduce their tax burden by unloading Bojan Bogdanovic and/or Joe Ingles.
But this is clearly a team willing to pay to win. The only question is where the spending limit lies.
