Dear Jazz fans: I get what Utah was doing here. They wanted to find a way to meet the league's salary floor, now set at a record-high 90 percent of the cap level — about $52.5 million — without signing anyone who would be on the books after this season. They don't care about making the playoffs this coming season, and so they didn't see much appeal in signing, say, Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap. I get it. But there is an opportunity cost to every transaction, and the Jazz paid a giant sum — most of their cap space — for first-round picks that are likely to be very bad. There were other alternatives, and some alternatives that haven't emerged yet. That's the value of keeping cap space open during the season, and especially at the trade deadline. Teams only have to hit the floor by June 30 after each season, and in recent history, only the cheapo Maloofs have had any issues in that regard. Every team last season, when the floor was lower, spent over the new 90 percent floor anyway, and no one has ever had any trouble finding dead money when they need it — and wringing a nice asset for their space. Utah didn't make a bad deal at all, especially not considering their priorities. But they paid a giant price for bad picks, and they closed themselves off to other things — even if Brandon Rush and one of the toxic Andris Biedrins–Richard Jefferson duo become movable for second-round picks during the season.
