Struggling Jazz could face roster shakeup
Concerned about a lackluster start that has left them in ninth place in the Western Conference and motivated not to pay a hefty luxury-tax bill for moderate success, the
Utah Jazz appear willing to trade anyone on their roster but point guard Deron Williams(notes), multiple league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The Jazz have a payroll exceeding $77 million with five players making at least $9 million this season. Their dilemma:
While they would like to shed some salary, they want to remain competitive enough to at least contend for a playoff berth.
Carlos Boozer(notes), who is making $12.6 million in the final season of his contract, has attracted interest, but sources said the Jazz have yet to enter any substantive trade talks involving the forward. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has told management he’d prefer to keep Boozer for the season to help with the team’s playoff push, but
ownership wants to avoid paying as much luxury tax as possible.
Rival executives think the Jazz have been asking for too much for Boozer, and that most teams who trade for him would want assurances they have a good chance to re-sign him over the summer.
Boozer is averaging more than 19 points and 10 rebounds and could prove to be a difference-maker for a contending team. The Detroit Pistons discussed trading Tayshaun Prince(notes) for Boozer over the summer, but one West executive said the Jazz wanted only to redirect Prince to the Portland Trail Blazers and now lack another team with salary-cap room to do so.
It’s also little secret the Jazz have been trying with no luck to trade forward Andrei Kirilenko(notes) and his hefty contract for some time. Kirilenko is making a team-high $16.4 million this season and $17.8 million next season.