Ask the expert: D-Will's future in Utah?
By Ross Siler
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:09/07/2007 06:20:14 PM MDT

Posted: 6:21 PM- The Jazz players aren't scheduled to start arriving in Salt Lake City in advance of training camp for another two weeks. Deron Williams said he would be in town around the 20th. With their teams still playing in the European championships, Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur likely will come in closer to the Oct. 1 date for players to report for training camp.
C.J. Miles wants to be signed and start re-acclimating to the al ude at least two weeks before camp. Matt Harpring is expected to be recovered from minor knee surgery. The Jazz also are going to be looking for ways to buy Williams, Kirilenko and Okur some rest in October after a summer with national team commitments.
There's still some scattered news - - waiting for Miles to sign and waiting to see what happens with Dee Brown. The Jazz have 13 players under contract (not counting Miles), which begs the question if they will make any additional moves before the start of camp. My guess right now is no.
Should Miles sign an offer sheet the Jazz decide not to match, which does not look likely this late in summer, the Jazz will look to add a veteran. Two players on Kevin O'Connor's radar are Linton Johnson III and Eric Williams, both of whom are free-agent forwards represented by Mark Bartelstein.
In the meantime, we're back with Ask the Expert. Thanks for all the questions again this week. Hard to believe, but the Jazz will leave for training camp three weeks from Monday. It feels like yesterday we were in San Antonio for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
------
Question:
So we all know that the key and the heart of the Jazz right now is Deron Williams. And, as we can imagine, us Jazz fans aren't the only ones who see this. Rumors are going around that other teams are talking to D-Will, and want him to become the heart and soul of their team.
Well, I sit back and tell myself that everything will be OK, that Williams has everything that he needs and wants here in Utah, and that he has no reason to leave. Should I feel this way? Well, truth be told, I don't. I have this Mt Everest sized fear, combined with a Grand Canyon sized pit in my stomach, that Williams is going to hang up his Jazz jersey and find himself a different team.
--Robert Haack, Lyman, Wyo.
Answer:
First of all, any team that's talking to Williams would be subject to an enormous tampering violation fine. It's something the league takes very, very seriously.
The way the NBA salary cap works, the Jazz can offer Williams the most money of any team and a year earlier than any team. He is eligible to sign an extension as of July 1, 2008. That window runs through Oct. 31.
If the Jazz present a maximum (five-year, $80 million) extension to him, Williams is likely to sign. No player has passed on that kind of deal, if only for the security it provides. The question is whether the Jazz think Williams is worth that kind of money and if Williams would opt to sign the shorter three-year extension that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did.
Even if he signed the three-year extension, Williams would be under contract through the 2011-12 season. Williams could force his way out of Utah but it would require playing out the 2008-09 season and seeing what offers are out there as a restricted free agent. There's no guarantees about that, as opposed to the money available in summer 2008.
Although Williams was close to Dee Brown, I don't see his departure as being a slap in the face or anything. Talking to him in Las Vegas, he twice mentioned the reality that the NBA is a business and said he was confident Brown could be a good player if he found the right team and right situation.