Utah Jazz Blog – Page 92 – NBA Blog

Wizards sign Dee Brown to offer sheet

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed restricted free agent point guard Dee Brown to an offer sheet. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. The Utah Jazz will now have seven days to match the Wizards’ offer under the terms of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“Dee is a player who can bring quickness and energy to our team” said Grunfeld. “We like that he gives us depth and a different look at the point guard position.”

Brown (6-0, 185) played last season for Galatasaray Café Crown in Turkey, where he averaged 12.3 points per game. He was originally drafted by Utah with the 46th overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft and averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 assists in 49 games for the Jazz during the 2006-07 season. Brown is a product of the University of Illinois, where he finished his four-year career as the winningest player in school history (114 games, 114-23 overall record) and helped lead the Illini to the NCAA Championship Game as a junior in 2005.

2008-09 Salary Cap set to $58.680 million

The National Basketball Association today announced that the Salary Cap for the 2008-09 season will be $58.680 million. The new Cap goes into effect immediately as the league’s “moratorium period” has ended and teams can begin signing free agents and making trades.

The tax level for the 2008-09 season has been set at $71.150 million. Any team whose team salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $71.150 million.

The mid-level exception is $5.585 million for the 2008-09 season and the minimum team salary, which is set at 75% of the Salary Cap, is $44.010 million.

For the 2007-08 season, the Salary Cap was set at $55.630 million, the tax level was $67.865 million and the mid-level exception was $5.356 million.

Jazz want Deron Williams extension

The Salt Lake Tribune (Ross Siler) reports: A little past 10 p.m. Monday, Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor can pick up the phone and set in motion the process through which Deron Williams can sign a long-term contract extension to stay in Utah. From July 1 until Oct. 31, the Jazz have an exclusive window to negotiate an extension to Williams’ rookie contract. Under league rules, Williams could sign for as long as five years and as much as approximately $90 million.

The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports: Jazz owner Larry H. Miller already has publicly said he thinks Deron Williams is worth a max-money extension, which — based on Williams’ experience and 25 percent of the projected team salary cap for the 2009-10 season — translates to approximately $90 million in salary over the maximum-allowed five years, beginning with about $15 million in ’09-10 and peaking at around $21.3 million in the 2013-14 season. Length-of-extension would seem to be the only remaining issue — three, four or the full five years. An actual deal can be agreed to as early as late Monday night, but — according to terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players union — cannot be signed until July 9 at the earliest.

Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer probably making Olympics roster

The Salt Lake Tribune (Ross Siler) reports: The official announcement won’t come until Monday, but USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo all but confirmed Friday that the Jazz’s Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams will be making the trip to Beijing as members of the Olympic team. “They are two highly thought-of candidates to be on the team,” Colangelo said in a phone interview with The Tribune. “We’ve said that all along, but we’re not pre-announcing anything.” Colangelo confirmed that he would be keeping three point guards on the U.S. roster – expected to be Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Williams – and said he was still in the process of notifying players who were going to be on the 12-man team.

Matt Harpring has right ankle surgery

Utah Jazz forward Matt Harpring underwent successful scope surgery Thursday to remove two bone spurs from his right ankle, Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today.

The out-patient procedure was performed by Dr. R. Marvin Royster in Atlanta.

Further information on Harpring’s recovery timeline will be provided once it is available.

In his 10th NBA season and sixth with the Jazz, Harpring appeared in 76 regular season games (all as a reserve) in 2007-08, averaging 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 18.1 minutes per game. He also saw action in all 12 playoff games for the Jazz, averaging 6.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game.

No Mehmet Okur for Turkey in September

The Deseret Morning News (Tim Buckley) reports: Jazz starting center Mehmet Okur won’t play for his native Turkey when its national team plays France, Belgium and Ukraine in September qualifying games for the 2009 FIBA European championships. According to a Web report from the English-language Today’s Zaman Turkish newspaper, Okur was dropped from the team’s provisional roster due to injury. Okur played with an Achilles tendon injury late in the Jazz’s 2008 playoff run, and O’Connor on Wednesday suggested the 2007 NBA All-Star was more injured late in Utah’s second-round series with the Los Angeles Lakers than many people realize.

Jerry Sloan returning for 21st season

The Deseret Morning News (Tim Buckley) reports: When the 2008 NBA playoffs ended for the Jazz last month, coach Jerry Sloan as he typically does declined to say for certain that he would return for yet another season. This morning, however, Sloan said he indeed will work for at least another year in Utah. “I’m planning on coming back, and looking forward to it,” Sloan said by telephone during a break in chores on his farm in southern Illinois. In doing so, Sloan will be fulfilling the final season that remains on his current contract with the Jazz.

Paul Millsap to have thumb surgery

Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap will undergo surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb this Thursday, Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today.

Millsap injured the thumb in the Game Six loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on May 16. Following x-rays, Jazz physician Dr. Lyle Mason preliminarily diagnosed the thumb injury as a torn ulnar ligament.

A second opinion by Dr. Steven Huish today confirmed that Millsap suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, and Dr. Huish will perform surgery to repair the ligament on Thursday in Salt Lake City.

A report on the surgery and an estimated timeline for Millsap’s recovery will be provided on Friday.

Originally selected by the Jazz in the second round (47th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft, Millsap has appeared in all 164 regular season games and all 29 playoff games in his first two seasons. He averaged 8.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game this season.

May 16: Lakers 108, Jazz 105

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 34 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles held off a furious rally by the Utah Jazz for a 108-105 victory Friday night in Game 6, putting the Lakers in the Western Conference finals for the first time in four years. It was the only win by the visiting team in the series and kept the Lakers from having to host a Game 7 on Monday… Utah trailed by 19 points at halftime and 16 after three quarters, but got within two in the final minute… Utah was 5-for-8 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and had a chance to tie it just before the buzzer, but Mehmet Okur and Deron Williams both missed from beyond the arc in the final seconds and Utah’s season was over… Reserve Paul Millsap added 15 points for Utah and led the Jazz on a 14-5 run early in the fourth quarter that set up the thrilling finish.

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Lakers shot 50.0%, the Jazz just 38.1%. But the Jazz took 97 shots, the Lakers just 70. The Jazz hit a respectable 9-of-24 three-pointers, the Lakers a terrific 7-of-11. As usual the Lakers took way more free throws, going 31-of-38, the Jazz 22-of-25. The Jazz owned the boards, and dished a few more assists.

For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant (9-of-19) had 34 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists (but 5 turnovers). Pau Gasol on an inefficient 17 shots had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Derek Fisher on an amazing 5 shots managed 16 points and 3 steals. Lamar Odom (4-of-8) had 13 points and 9 rebounds. Vladimir Radmanovic (5-of-7) had 12. Sasha Vujacic (5-of-7) also had 12.

For the Jazz, Deron Williams on an inefficient 21 shots had 21 points and 14 assists. Mehmet Okur (just 6-of-18) had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ronnie Brewer scored 13. Carlos Boozer (awful 5-of-16) had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and fouled out. Andrei Kirlenko also scored 12, with 3 steals.

Kirilenko visa issue causes missed practice

The Deseret Morning News (Linda Hamilton) reports: Forward Andrei Kirilenko missed Thursday’s Utah Jazz practice at the Zions Bank Basketball Center as he was dealing with issues with his visa.

InsideHoops says: Kirilenko just should have pretended to be that actor who played Ivan Drago in the Rocky movie. No one is going to prevent Drago from doing anything. His own crowd turned against him! You have to feel for the little guy.

UPDATE: The Salt Lake Tribune says it’s just about Kirilenko’s family traveling this summer, and this isn’t going to affect Kirilenko in the playoffs in any way.