Utah Jazz Top Offseason Priorities After the Darryn Peterson Pick

After a much-anticipated NBA draft where the Utah Jazz selected Darryn Peterson at No. 2 overall, many fans might be asking what comes next for the team.

Drafting Peterson was only the first step. Let's break down exactly what should come next for the Jazz this offseason.

Get Walker Kessler Extended

The next big order of business (no pun intended) is the pending Kessler extension. Last week, Utah put a five-year, $137.5 million offer on the table for him.

It doesn’t seem like that offer will be enough to get a deal done, but it should be a great starting point at the very least. It would be wise for the two sides to come back to the negotiating table and get a deal done that makes sense for both the Jazz and Kessler.

I’d anticipate that is ultimately what happens before free agency opens on June 30th. With the Jazz ready to compete next season, locking up Kessler in a long-term deal remains the top priority. The roster is currently constructed in a way where he maximizes the lineups and the team's potential.

After turning down lucrative offers from a couple of different teams involving multiple unprotected first-round picks, I don’t anticipate Utah not getting a deal done. I would feel comfortable giving Kessler an extension that averages out around $30-33 million per year over the length of the deal.

It remains to be seen how many years the Kessler extension will be. It could be anywhere from three to five, depending on what both sides are comfortable with. My prediction is that the Jazz will agree to an extension of around four years and $128 million.

Check Keyonte George's Asking Price

George is also eligible for an extension this summer. He is coming off a career-best year where he made a huge leap offensively. I’d anticipate his reps coming to the negotiating table asking for or close to a max contract.

I wouldn’t blame them, either; it's justified by the way George played this past season. Starting at the absolute highest he could get and negotiating down from there is smart business.

If Keyonte’s camp wants to lock in the security and value of a long-term extension now at a lower overall number, I would listen. If I'm the Jazz, I would only be interested in getting a deal done this summer at a number well below the max, though.

If George's camp is dead set on the max, it would make the most sense to forgo an extension this summer and push it off until 2027. That would give the Jazz another full year, not only to see if Keyonte’s offensive leap was real and sustainable, but also to see how he plays with a new-look roster that is ready to compete now.

An extra year of data on this team and Keyonte in general would go a long way to making the Jazz feel secure about locking up his future with a large extension. Utah has playoff aspirations this year, and seeing how he performs in that environment would be very valuable intel.

If Keyonte proves to be a max player after an additional season, that would be great. The Jazz could extend him next summer with nothing lost and the added assurance of another year of basketball success under his belt.

Use the MLE As an Offeason Weapon

Will Hardy and Danny Ainge — Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy (left) and CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge (right) speak before the game against the Phoenix Suns at Delta Center. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Jazz will not be a cap-space team this summer, but they will have access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE), which can reach up to a maximum of $15,049,000 in year one of any deal. Non-taxpayer MLE contracts can go up to four years and are capped at 5% raises per year.

The great thing about having access to the MLE is that, in addition to using it to sign a player, you can split it up between free agents and sign multiple players under the exception as long as their combined salaries stay under the maximum year-one amount.

Another thing teams can do is trade for players and absorb their salary directly into the exception as long as the total remains under the maximum. If I'm the Jazz, I'm absolutely using this to my advantage this summer.

When looking at the team’s salary-cap sheet, there is no player whose salary is between Peterson’s rookie-year amount of $13,198,440 and Kessler’s projected salary next year, starting around, let’s say, $30 million. That's a potential problem when it comes to trades.

The Jazz would be hard-pressed to be in a position to trade for a player making upwards of $35 million or more without trading one of their key pieces. This is why it's extra important to use the MLE this summer.

Not on just any player, of course, but if there isn’t a player the front office is enamored with enough to use it on in free agency, the Jazz should look heavily at the trade market. There are quite a few players who fit into that price range around the league when thinking about potential trades.

This would not only bolster depth while adding another rotation piece to an already talented roster, but it could also help with potential trades down the line. It will be interesting to see which way the front office goes regarding the MLE, and it should be an eventful summer for Utah.

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