Built Ford Tough Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Most likely amnesty cut: Mehmet Okur How likely to use amnesty this season? Jump ball Other amnesty candidates: Raja Bell Analysis: This will be a challenging call for the Jazz. Injuries kept Okur from contributing last season and, at 32, there are questions about how much he has left. With the team in rebuilding mode, Al Jefferson manning the middle and lottery pick Enes Kanter ready to contribute, it can be argued that Utah no longer needs him. Yet there are strong indications that the Jazz are weighing whether it's wiser to keep Okur for his potential trade value if nothing else, since there will always be a market for big men who (when healthy) can spread the floor. If the Jazz elect to keep the Turk, releasing Bell would save them about $5 million over two seasons. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7147880/nba-most-likely-amnesty-candidates I don't really think cutting Okur would be a wise move. I know he is a shell of his former self and can't really contribute much, but keeping him around for the last year of his contract to ease Kanter's transition to the NBA seems more beneficial to me than eliminating his cap hit from the books., especially since the Jazz are looking like they are going to rebuild. His veteran presence and ability to mentor the young bigs like Kanter and Favors are definitely worth keeping around if you ask me. If his contract was for multiple years, it would be different. I think the same can apply to Bell as well. You want to have some solid veteran leadership around to help out the young players. The Jazz are one team who I see the amnesty clause not really doing much for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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