{"id":152589,"date":"2025-07-30T06:08:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T10:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=152589"},"modified":"2025-07-30T06:08:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T10:08:27","slug":"utah-has-cap-room-to-still-make-huge-splash-interest-in-restricted-free-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/30\/utah-has-cap-room-to-still-make-huge-splash-interest-in-restricted-free-agents\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Has Cap Room To Still Make Huge Splash, Interest In Restricted Free Agents?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Utah Jazz<\/a> are one of two NBA<\/a> teams under the salary cap. Therefore, the Jazz are one of the few teams that could make a realistic run at one of the league’s four restricted free agents. Do the Jazz have interest in Cam Thomas<\/a>, Josh Giddey<\/a>, Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>, or Quentin Grimes<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Utah Still Has Cap Room To Make a Huge Splash, Interest In Restricted Free Agents?<\/h2>\n

Utah<\/a> set a franchise record for futility, finishing last year with a 17-65 record. It was the Jazz’s third straight losing season. The Jazz are 85-116 during this stretch. Defense has been a problem for the Jazz under fourth-year head coach Will Hardy<\/a>. They have finished in the bottom third in the league in defensive rating, including 29th in 2023-24 and 30th in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Utah is still in the rebuilding stage and remains one of the youngest teams in the league. Last year, the Jazz were the second youngest team, though they project to be the seventh this season<\/a>. The Jazz added five players, including a trio of veterans. However, they also moved on from three key rotational players.<\/p>\n

The Jazz’s most significant offseason move was drafting the talented yet much maligned Ace Bailey<\/a>, surprisingly with the No. 5 overall pick. Bailey, who bounced back nicely in Game 2 after a poor opening day summer league performance, is expected to be a cornerstone for the Jazz. John Tonje<\/a>, the Jazz’s second-round pick this year, struggled a bit during the summer league.<\/p>\n

Utah also brought in veterans Kyle Anderson<\/a>, Jusuf Nurkic<\/a>, and Kevin Love<\/a>. The Jazz acquired Anderson and a 2027 second-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers as part of a three-team trade that involved John Collins<\/a> being sent to the Clippers. They picked up Nurkic from Charlotte for Collin Sexton<\/a> and a 203o second-round pick.<\/p>\n

The Jazz also bought out Jordan Clarkson<\/a> while waiving Johnny Juzang<\/a> and Jaden Springer<\/a>. Juzang and Springer had nonguaranteed deals. By making all moves (trades and b<\/a>uyouts), the Jazz saved about $17 million.<\/p>\n

Jazz’s Salary and Depth Chart<\/h3>\n

Utah has 15 players on standard contracts with a salary cap hit of $145.9 million. The Jazz are $8.68 million under the NBA’s salary cap and over $43 million below the luxury tax.\u00a0 The Jazz have some flexibility with KJ Martin’s<\/a> ($8.02 million) contract, which is nonguaranteed until January 10.<\/p>\n

As it stands now, the Jazz’s starting five appears to be:\u00a0 Lauri Markkanen<\/a>, Walker Kessler<\/a>, Isaiah Collier<\/a>, Kyle Filipowski<\/a>, and Keyonte George<\/a>. Cody Williams<\/a>, Ace Bailey<\/a>, and Walter Clayton Jr<\/a>. could be in the mix if Hardy chooses against pairing George and Collier together.<\/p>\n

While the eight players mentioned possess intriguing potential, Markkanen<\/a> and Kessler<\/a> are the only two who have proven to be dependable. Unless the Jazz pull the trigger on a trade involving Markanen or Kessler before opening night– which seems unlikely — Hardy will have a lot of decisions to make.<\/p>\n

Utah does appear to be deeper and arguably better if its youngsters take another step in their development. Of their veteran acquisitions, Anderson or Nurkic will see limited minutes with the second unit. Besides the eight players mentioned, Taylor Hendricks<\/a> and Brice Sensabaugh<\/a> will be fighting for minutes.<\/p>\n

How Could The Jazz Improve?<\/h3>\n

If Utah decides to upgrade its roster while also keeping Markkanen and Kessler, it has the means to do so. The Jazz could use a consistent scorer and three-point marksman now that Clarkson is in New York and Sexton is playing for the Hornets. They could also add depth upfront.<\/p>\n

The Jazz have both the middle-level and bi-annual exceptions to use on free agents. They also have a pair of trade exceptions, including one worth $26.5 million that was generated from the Collins trade.<\/p>\n

No Interest In Cam Thomas?<\/h4>\n

Despite Utah’s obvious needs, Grant Afseth of FastbreakJournal.com<\/a> reported that the Jazz don’t seem to be interested in <\/em>Cam Thomas.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cUtah holds the cards for restricted free agency if they want to. It\u2019s not just Cam, but he\u2019s one of the RFAs who I don\u2019t see as being appealing for the Jazz. They\u2019re building around defense, size, and versatility,\u201d a Western Conference scout explained to FastbreakJournal.com<\/a><\/em>. \u201cCam is a pure scorer, but he doesn\u2019t fit the long-term vision they\u2019re selling internally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas, who was limited to 25 games last season due to injuries, reportedly rejected a two-year, $28 million deal from Brooklyn.<\/a> As Thomas is believed to be seeking a four-year, $100 million pact. With such a large gap and limited teams having spending power, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report<\/a> expects Thomas to return to the Nets for his $6.0 million qualifying offer.<\/p>\n

Quentin Grimes and The Jazz<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the Jazz likely are not interested in Thomas, there is a belief that the Jazz could be players in the Grimes sweepstakes. Grimes, known as a 3-and-D wing, is coming off a career season after excelling for Philadelphia<\/a> following his trade from Dallas. Grimes averages nearly two three-pointers a game for his career while shooting at a 37.5% clip.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Utah uses that cap space, it\u2019ll be for someone like Quentin Grimes, someone who can knock down threes and guard multiple positions, but still can create off the dribble,\u201d an Eastern Conference executive told\u00a0FastbreakJournal.com<\/em>. \u201cHe\u2019s also shown flashes as a scorer and playmaker in Philly. He\u2019s shown he can grow into a more complete player in the right system. That\u2019s a different type of bet than what you\u2019re making on Thomas.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Grimes has an $ 8.5 million qualifying offer from the Sixers. However, most NBA execs value him<\/a> at $14.1 million per year, or the NBA mid-level exception.<\/p>\n

Latest On Josh Giddey and Jonathan Kuminga<\/h4>\n

Kuminga has been the restricted free agent who has been in the news the most. Kuminga<\/a> has drawn interest from several other teams as he and Golden State<\/a> appear to be at an impasse. NBA Insider Marc Stein<\/a> reported yesterday that the Warriors made their best offer to the 22-year-old forward at two years, $40 million. But the offer was still well below the three-year, $90 million deal that Kuminga was seeking. He has an $8 million qualifying offer from the Warriors.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Giddey is likely to land back in Chicago with his $11.1 million qualifying offer. However, Giddey is seen by NBA executives as the safest “bet” as 14 of the 16 polled in The Athletic article<\/a> believe he is worth between $20 and $25 million per year.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: David Banks, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Utah Jazz are one of two NBA teams under the salary cap. Therefore, the Jazz are one of the few teams that could make a realistic run at one of the league’s four restricted free agents. Do the Jazz have interest in Cam Thomas, Josh Giddey, Jonathan Kuminga, or Quentin Grimes? Utah Still Has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":152752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,3,4721,24],"tags":[50219,4069,4297,4276,3160],"class_list":["post-152589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","category-jazz","tag-2025-nba-free-agents","tag-cam-thomas","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-josh-giddey","tag-quentin-grimes"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152589"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152755,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152589\/revisions\/152755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}