Nba Exansion Is Here – What Does It Mean For The Utah Jazz Roster?

According to Shams Charania, the NBA will hold a Board of Governors meeting to vote on adding two expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas.

Shams mentions that “A growing number of owners are believed to support expansion because of the long-term revenue growth for the league from the Las Vegas and Seattle markets.” That revenue growth could be great but it’s not just that, NBA owners would also receive somewhere around $300M each as part of the expansion fee. I know I can be a little radical at times, but something tells me that’s part of the reason owners are booking their private jet as fast as they can to sign warming up to the idea.

Aside from Ryan Smith getting more money than one can count, how does this affect the Jazz? Well, it does give Smith some money to offset a Jazz cap situation that could get really expensive, really soon. That’s a possibily but that’s Smith’s choice. As far as the team itself, it likely means an expansion draft.

Tim Bontemps at ESPN did a great writeup on what an expansion draft would look like:

During the 2004 expansion that brought in the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), existing NBA teams were allowed to protect up to eight players under contract for the next season from being selected.

Past expansion draft rules required that a team had to leave at least one player unprotected, even if the team had fewer than eight players under contract heading into the offseason. Those with options to become a free agent count toward that total, and, if selected, the player’s former team would receive a trade exception in the amount of that player’s 2028-29 salary.

Teams were also allowed to protect players who could become restricted free agents, but past expansion draft rules did not transfer RFA status to the expansion team. The drafting team would be at risk of losing a player for nothing. (However, the player would not be allowed to re-sign with his original team.)

In past expansion drafts, teams were allowed to select only one player from each existing NBA franchise.

There were no two-way players in 2004, so the league will need to determine if they can be protected in a future expansion draft. Every two-way player whose contract is up normally becomes a restricted free agent.

One thing to point out is that the NBA and NBPA would be operating under the current collective bargaining agreement, which runs through the 2029-30 season. There is a provision however that allows either side the option to terminate the CBA on June 30, 2029, if there is notice given on or before Oct. 15, 2028.

So, according to this, Utah would have to make at least one player under contract available for draft. If we use next season as an example (26-27) here is a list of players under contract (I’m assuming the Jazz will sign Walker Kessler, and they should keep their new draft pick):

Jaren Jackson Jr.

Lauri Markkanen

Keyonte George

Ace Bailey

Walker Kessler

New Draft Pick

John Konchar

Cody Williams

Brice Sensabaugh

Svi Mykhailiuk (Non-Guarantee)

Kyle Filipowski (Non-Guarantee)

Isaiah Collier

With this list of players, Utah would have to choose one player to make available to draft. My guess is that the Jazz will guarantee Filipowski and Svi, at the very least, to make sure they have a wide array of choices for who they make available. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Blake Hinson gets a contract just for this type of situation.

That said, it does bring up an interesting question: who would you be willing to give up from this list for the draft?

John Konchar

Cody Williams

Brice Sensabaugh

Svi Mykhailiuk

Kyle Filipowski

Isaiah Collier

This makes for an interesting wrinkle to upcoming offseasons when looking at different signings. I’m sure the Jazz are already thinking about this and will likely make signings to ensure they keep the players they want on the roster going forward. There may be a signing made for the sole purpose of being made available for drafting. For some teams, this may become a situation where maybe they hope a player gets picked. Maybe there’s a team with an albatross contract that they’d love to offload. Personally, I’m excited to see how this works out.

One thing to also consider is whether it makes things awkward if the Jazz make a player available, but he’s not drafted? I could see that being a difficult wrinkle as well. It may mean nothing, but it certainly will make that specific player more willing to move on in the future.