Alec Burks' Contract Extension Will Pay Big Dividends for Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz believe in Alec Burks' future and their ability to bring the best out of him.
That much was made clear Friday when the franchise made an expensive—but shrewd—investment in the 23-year-old combo guard.
The Jazz reached an agreement with Burks on a four-year, $42 million contract extension, as first reported by Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal's value could grow to $45 million if Burks can hit "reachable" incentives.
Considering both the rate and his stature around the NBA, there could be a temptation to quickly label this as an overpay. Maybe even an extreme one.
However, it won't take long for this deal to be cast in a much more favorable light. And the copious amount of cash coming from the league's new media-rights deal are only partly responsible for increasing this contract's worth.
Most of the credit will belong to Burks himself, who has already earned more of this extension than most might think. Just ask Kobe Bryant how well Burks plays the game of basketball.
After filling a part-time role for the Jazz his first two seasons in the league, Burks secured a much more substantial spot in 2013-14. His playing time increased rather dramatically, and his stat sheet followed suit.
He set personal bests in points (14.0), rebounds (3.3), assists (2.7) and steals (0.9), while logging a career-high 28.1 minutes a night. Granted, counting stats should rise with more playing time, but that wasn't the only area in which he developed.
More important than the quantity of those numbers was the quality behind them. His box scores showed not only a more productive player than Jazz fans had seen the previous year but also a more efficient one as well.
| 2012-13 | 11.5 | 50.7 | 20.7 | 13.0 | 14.3 |
| 2013-14 | 15.8 | 54.7 | 23.9 | 16.9 | 13.0 |
To simplify those figures, Burks improved as a shooter, scorer and distributor. And despite the extra usage, he displayed better ball control.
In other words, the extra work was hardly too much for him to handle. In fact, he appeared capable of taking on an even heavier role going forward.
"Burks has the talent to average 20 points in the NBA. He proved that in 2013-14, even if he didn't get the opportunity to actually do it," Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey wrote in April. "This season, Burks played over 30 minutes just 28 times. He averaged 17.6 points in those games while shooting 50.6 percent from the field."
Given Burks' career trajectory, this was the perfect time for the Jazz to buy into his potential. He has proved himself capable of being a serviceable starter at worst and hinted at a blindingly bright future if he can shore up the few holes in his game.
"He's 23 years old, athletic and incredible at getting to the rim and drawing fouls," wrote CBS Sports' James Herbert, "but he needs to keep improving his spot-up shooting and his defense. The Jazz know Burks' work ethic better than anybody, and they're betting on this happening."
It's a calculated risk, if one can even call it that.
Barring a catastrophic injury, the worst-case scenario seems to be Burks plateauing at his current level.
Even if that happened, Utah would be "stuck" with a top-level creator off the bounce. Last season, he ranked 18th in points per 48 minutes on drives to the basket with 7.9, per NBA.com's player tracking data. He was tied for the same spot in free-throw attempts per 36 minutes with 6.1 (minimum 500 minutes played), per Basketball-Reference.com.
And he's more than a slashing specialist.
He isn't a dreadful three-point shooter by any stretch (career 35.5 percent), just a few steps back of where he needs to be to really take off as an offensive force. He's also an underrated passer, who picked up a few pointers on finding open teammates while working out last summer with Jazz legend John Stockton, the NBA's all-time leader in assists (15,806).
That is the canvas with which the Jazz are working.
It still needs some finishing touches, but first-year coach Quin Snyder just so happens to excel in bringing young players along, per Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune:
Snyder also brings an offense to Utah that emphasizes ball movement and playing at a high tempo. If those elements sound well suited for Burks' game, well, the fourth-year guard would strongly agree with that assessment, per Jody Genessy of the Deseret News:
Considering both Burks' upside and the league's dearth of talent at the shooting guard position, it makes a ton of sense to lock him up right now. And the rate is just as understandable as the timing.
That aforementioned influx of TV money makes this contract amount easy to stomach.
Assuming Burks reaches the incentives to push the deal to a full $45 million, it will average out to an annual salary of $11.25 million. That number equals a little more than 17 percent of this season's $63 million salary cap. Grantland's Zach Lowe projected the cap could grow as high as $90 million by 2016-17. If that figure is correct, Burks' deal would eat up just 12.5 percent of the cap at that point.
Burks is easily worth 12.5 percent of a team's available money right now. With an improved jumper and more disciplined defense, he could justify eating up 17 percent up the pie.
Besides, it's not as if the Jazz have a habit of going big-game hunting in free agency. The highest-profile player they signed outside the organization this summer was Trevor Booker. Last year, it was John Lucas III, who isn't currently on an NBA roster.
The best way for the Jazz to spend their money is keeping their current players around. And Burks is only the latest piece of Utah's intriguing collection of young talent to play his way into this team's long-term plans.
"It represents another investment in the Jazz's young core," ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst wrote of Burks' new deal. "The combined extensions for Burks, Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors are worth more than $140 million."
Again, that might seem high for three key members of a team that finished last season with all of 25 victories to its name. But the Jazz aren't paying these players for who they are but rather who they might become.
If Snyder can fully tap into this team's potential, these commitments could be priceless.
Just think about the pieces now in place.
Australian import Dante Exum, an athletic 6'6" point guard with a 6'9.5" wingspan, per DraftExpress, has a chance to become the best player in the vaunted 2014 draft class. Trey Burke has the confidence to be a closer and the court vision to play the part of floor general.
Burks is joined on the wing by Hayward, one of five players to average at least 16 points, five boards and five dimes last season, and rookie sniper Rodney Hood. Underneath, the Jazz are anchored by Favors and Enes Kanter, two imposing bigs packed with potential. Behind them sits the drool-worthy Rudy Gobert, a 7'2" center with a 7'8.5" wingspan and a 9'7" standing reach, per DraftExpress.
None of these players have celebrated their 25th birthdays yet. The 26-year-old Booker is the only one who has in Snyder's top nine-man rotation.
It's scary to think about where this team could be headed in the not-so-distant future. Scarier still is the fact that the players needed to make that leap could already be in place.
Burks is a piece of Utah's puzzle. It remains to be seen just how big of a piece, but with his athleticism and developing skill set, it isn't tough to imagine him playing a substantial role in helping this club reach its ceiling.
And if, by some rare chance, Burks doesn't fit into the franchise's blueprint, how hard could it be to flip an explosive player on the right side of 25 who mans a thin position? How hard would it be to move him once the salary cap starts its exponential climb?
Yes, the Jazz made a pricey bet on Burks' future. But with the risk-reward analysis slanted heavily toward the latter, why would they have done things any differently? They wouldn't.
This is another savvy investment by a franchise building a promising present and a tantalizing future.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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