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Millers sell the Jazz

He sold Qual for 8billion. He bought the Jazz for not even 2. I'm pretty sure he can spend another 1 billion on an arena before asking the community for help
I think he’s worth 3B. He may not ask for help but if we are going to act like it’s a community asset then we can’t turn our nose up when asking to participate in improving that asset. The millers were the exception in how they operated. Many rich owners still ask for participation. I think this conversation is really 5-10+ years away anyway.
 
Having been to various NBA arenas around the country - from what I've seen the SLC one is 2nd best right now only to the GSW new arena. Am I missing something?
 
It’s very clearly what I’m suggesting... at least partially. I get that it isn’t going to get a full return... most taxpayer dollars don’t. Other markets that are willing to do it will help with an arena. It’s just kinda the deal. I wonder if the Seattle taxpayers would fund an arena to have the Sonics back.

In a perfect world owners wouldn’t request funds... but if most other owners are getting that type of support then that’s likely going to be part of the trade off of having a team. You might be willing to let them leave but others would think otherwise.

So you think it's fair and right to tax people that first off might not even be Jazz fans let alone basketball fans to build a billionaire's arena? No ****ing way. Let the billionaire build his own arena and let the poor and middle class keep their hard earned money to pay for things that actually improve their lives. If another city is dumb enough to give him taxpayer dollars then by all means wish him and the Jazz well in their new city.

Now, I do not believe Ryan Smith will push for this so I am not trying to make him sound like a villain. I am just pointing out the obvious here. Taxpayers always get screwed over when politicians buy into this and give public money to fund billionaire's stadiums/arenas. Mr. Smith can afford to buy land and build his own arena if it comes to that. If he can't, he probably shouldn't have bought the Jazz.
 
It’s very clearly what I’m suggesting... at least partially. I get that it isn’t going to get a full return... most taxpayer dollars don’t. Other markets that are willing to do it will help with an arena. It’s just kinda the deal. I wonder if the Seattle taxpayers would fund an arena to have the Sonics back.

In a perfect world owners wouldn’t request funds... but if most other owners are getting that type of support then that’s likely going to be part of the trade off of having a team. You might be willing to let them leave but others would think otherwise.
I guess they are just going to renovate Key Arena.

 
Bill Gates has had a turn about. I’m glad he is doing good now that he is rich. I wonder about all his competition that he sued, harassed, stomped flat on his way to the top, all the people doing it the right way, feel about him. It’s easy to be charitable when your a billionaire. I do believe Gates himself said that.

Exactly. How many dreams along the way did he stomp on with his anti-competition practices? Bill Gates has done some good things with the billions he's made but there is a trail of shattered dreams of other people in his wake.
 
Why is there all this talk about an arena. The Jazz just finished a major remodel of the arena. It was very nicely done and is among one of the best in the NBA right now. This might be a concern in 10-20 years I guess.

The Jazz were given 22.7 million in tax breaks from SLC for the 125 million remodel.
 
Why is there all this talk about an arena. The Jazz just finished a major remodel of the arena. It was very nicely done and is among one of the best in the NBA right now. This might be a concern in 10-20 years I guess.

The Jazz were given 22.7 million in tax breaks from SLC for the 125 million remodel.
Because owners in all Major Sports tend to like brand new shiny arenas. I agree with you that there's no need for a new arena at this point in time.
 
Another message board had a poster that had some really well thought out thoughts on some realities in Utah:

1- It’s a smaller city, where a lot of the sponsors are people who buy into the Rush/Hannity/FOX News stuff.
2- Mitchell has become a big voice in the BLM.
3- we are seeing the Westbrook incident might not be an isolated event with how Mitchell has been treated.
4- If an owner has to pick between players or sponsors...you can’t be successful that way.
5- if this division turns Utah into a town where players just see it as a stop for money or a path to money...

Smith definitely has his work cut out for him right now. If he can’t mend that gap then he will have a tough time making money here and may be forced to make some tough decisions about winning vs making money vs staying.
Oaks coming out and stating the obvious that BLM is the right group to back may help him.
 
Because owners in all Major Sports tend to like brand new shiny arenas. I agree with you that there's no need for a new arena at this point in time.
The agreement on the tax breaks of the arena actually run until 2040. There is a lot of reasons for the team to stay here for now. Its very unlikely to leave in the near future. Later down the road? Who the **** knows. Its too far away to worry about. Also if the team leaves... meh, who cares its sports.
 
So you think it's fair and right to tax people that first off might not even be Jazz fans let alone basketball fans to build a billionaire's arena? No ****ing way. Let the billionaire build his own arena and let the poor and middle class keep their hard earned money to pay for things that actually improve their lives. If another city is dumb enough to give him taxpayer dollars then by all means wish him and the Jazz well in their new city.

Now, I do not believe Ryan Smith will push for this so I am not trying to make him sound like a villain. I am just pointing out the obvious here. Taxpayers always get screwed over when politicians buy into this and give public money to fund billionaire's stadiums/arenas. Mr. Smith can afford to buy land and build his own arena if it comes to that. If he can't, he probably shouldn't have bought the Jazz.

He may not even ask but it’s something that is fairly common. As far as hard earned tax funds go... some of my tax dollars are going to fund a 70B light rail system that likely is never completed and that I will never use... how is that fair? And all the contractors building it are making a **** ton of money along the way... it’s immoral for them to make that money and for governments to fund that right? It will also likely not make enough revenue for operating costs so we will have to further subsidize it.

While it would be nice for all our tax dollars to be used efficiently and for noble purposes it just isn’t reality. If the public voted to help subsidize an arena to keep a team in the state I don’t see that as the worst use of public funds... sorry.
 
Reading up on the new owner.

Can you imagine Coach Sloan dealing with him? Lol...

".....look son, if I need anything, I'll call you...."
 
Reading up on the new owner.

Can you imagine Coach Sloan dealing with him? Lol...

".....look son, if I need anything, I'll call you...."

Ryan “sounds great Mr. Slo... I mean Coach Sloan... one question... what does jackpotting mean?”
 
My only concern with this and it’s a tiny one because I have no idea what this new owner is like is that he’ll be too quick to pull the trigger on moves. Quin doesn’t show progress with the team as quickly as he likes, he fires him and hires someone new. Rinse, later, repeat. Like the Knicks. Not that he’d be the one making those decisions but that he just doesn’t bring the consistent stability the Millers did and is more involved and not in a good way. In a Knicks way. But like I said, I’m not very concerned with that.
If that is the case, it should be DL's job before anyone. There's no doubt to people in this basketball world that the Conley trade was a massive mistake that would likely result in us having to go over the cap for a player who barely makes a difference
 
If that is the case, it should be DL's job before anyone. There's no doubt to people in this basketball world that the Conley trade was a massive mistake that would likely result in us having to go over the cap for a player who barely makes a difference
I’m curious to see how DLs approach changes. A guy who came up as fast as Smith did may not have the long patient approach DL has at times.
 
I’m curious to see how DLs approach changes. A guy who came up as fast as Smith did may not have the long patient approach DL has at times.
A patient approach would've been seeking a long term solution at the PG spot, instead of trading multiple assets year after year for PG rentals who would just end up walk for nothing
 
A patient approach would've been seeking a long term solution at the PG spot, instead of trading multiple assets year after year for PG rentals who would just end up walk for nothing
@infection has talked about this... He kept bakkking da cakkkks so long that he painted himself in a corner and got to a point where he was forced to pivot. He could have swapped out other pieces along the way when we had clear needs and could find some balance but around 50 wins and playoff births gets him a new contract so why risk the biscuit until you have to. He had to see it and get copious amounts of data before making his moves... but then he becomes overly reactionary and overpays to get it done. He becomes too anchored to his deals and his players imo (see Exum, Dante and to a lesser extent Bradley, Tony). The fact he couldn't let Quin move Conley to the bench this season when that is clearly what Quin decided to do further cements the idea to me that he likes to stick with things until he's proved wrong or right.

Call it patience or stubborness or being risk averse or whatever you like. The rotating band aids at point guard has been a problem... the fact he overpaid for Mike makes it worse.
 
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