From Ross Siler,
The agent for Ronnie Brewer said Friday that he and Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor had agreed that they would not be able to come to agreement on a contract extension for Brewer ahead of the Monday deadline to do so.
The qualifying offer for next season would be $3.8 for Brewer. With CJ Miles getting $3.7 a couple years ago, I would imagine that Brewer's agent was looking for more than that given Brewer's playing time, starting job, scoring, etc. All of those stats have been better than Miles.
So that leaves the Jazz going into next summer with another restricted free agent. From the article they said that they made it clear they want Ronnie back. I'd like to know what Ronnie's salary requirement is that would prevent the team from signing him right now. Is he looking in the $5-6M range? On his radio show yesterday, Locke stated that he would go above the $3.8 deal.
I think Ronnie is worth a little more than that especially when compared to what CJ got. The risk Ronnie has is that the huge money being spent next year might not trickle down to him given the number of FAs at his position. The Jazz on the other hand run the risk of Brewer having a huge season and costing a lot more than they could afford.
Just remember, it's all a business. Nothing personal. Except for fans.
Also, Kosta Koufos will be around at least through the 2010-11 season after the Jazz picked up his option for $1.7M. A bargain at 100X that price.