Enes Kanter – whose struggles playing with Derrick Favors lead to serious questions about his long-term fit in Utah – won’t be getting a contract extension from the Jazz.
But Alec Burks, competing for minutes in an unsettled backcourt with Trey Burke and Dante Exum, will.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:Utah Jazz guard Alec Burks has reached an agreement on a four-year, $42 million contract extension, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Reachable incentive clauses could push Burks’ deal to $45 million, sources said.
It seems the Jazz are making a foolish bet here.
Burks has been compared recently to DeMar DeRozan, whose four-year extension worth between $40.4 million and $38 million seemed like an overpay but has proven to be good value for Toronto.
However, DeRozan is an exception. Most players don’t develop as much as he has following his third season.
Even if Burks keeps progressing, he must go a long way to justify this contract. He’s excellent at getting to the rim, but his outside shooting and distributing are only so-so. He has the tools to be a good defender, but he’s not there yet.
The best justification for offering Burks so much money is the dearth of quality wings around the league. It was possible another team would have given Burks a large offer sheet next summer, and the Jazz would have faced a much tougher dilemma – pay Burks even more or lose him for nothing.
They chose to pay him now, and it definitely could work out. But Utah is now committed to paying three players at least $10 million per season – Gordon Hayward, Favors and Burks. That’s a lot of cap to tie up on three players not that close to All-Star status.
This is the type of deal that could shake up the market. If Burks is worth this much, how much can Jimmy Butler command? The Bulls shooting guard said he was confident he’d get an extension, but he’s better than Burks. Will Chicago top this offer for Butler?