The Jazz will head to Boise, Idaho, for training camp in late September with largely the same cast of players that has enabled them to win 50-plus games and three playoff series the last two seasons.
But the stakes couldn't be higher for the Jazz this season given what awaits them next summer. For starters, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver all can opt out of their contracts and become free agents. The Jazz already have four other players who will become free agents in Jarron Collins, Brevin Knight, Ronnie Price and Paul Millsap. Millsap, in particular, should be due a major raise from the $797,581 he will make this season.
Ronnie Brewer can start talks on a contract extension. Second-year players Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko also could become free agents depending on whether the Jazz exercise options to keep them.
In all, the Jazz could have as many as nine players become free agents next summer, making this a make-or-break season when it comes to the team's future. The only certainty, it seems, is that Deron Williams will be in Utah for the long term.
The Jazz have been committed to keeping their current core of players together, with Boozer, Okur and Andrei Kirilenko entering their fifth season as teammates. That won't be so easy to do given the Jazz' payroll constraints going forward.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's future beyond this season also is a question. Sloan will celebrate his 20th anniversary as the team's coach in December but his contract will expire after this season.
