Jazz in the Red After .500 Season

The Utah Jazz are breaking the bank to be a mediocre team.

Putting much of the blame on himself for handing out a quarter billion dollars in long term contracts, team owner Larry Miller said his team had lost $25 million over the last two seasons.

Miller didn’t say that he is upset over the loss, because he believes the team is improving and heading in the right direction.

That I’m not sure of.

The three big contracts were given to Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur…None of whom I consider to be star players. Kirilenko and Okur are pretty good “second best” players. Guys that are good for 17 points and 9 rebounds every night. But I just can’t see them leading the Jazz through the playoffs.

Boozer got the famous one good year NBA contract and now doesn’t ever have to worry about busting his ass to play 82 games. It seems like the NBA hands out more of those deals than any league. Of course, NBA teams also let people like Isiah Thomas in their front office, so I guess that’s not surprising.

With no player on its roster that screams, “I can take over,” the Jazz are going to struggle to make the playoffs every year, which goes pretty much hand in hand with turning a profit.

For some reason, the team reminds me of the Bulls. They are going to hang around every year and they are going to be tough. The difference is that going .500 in the Eastern Conference gets you a six or seven seed and .500 in the west means you’re getting a lottery pick.

Miller: Team shortfall $10M this season – Salt Lake Tribune