clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Jazz guard Raja Bell's Buyout - The most in depth research on this topic on the entire Internet

The Utah Jazz kind of want to get out of paying guard Raja Bell the $3.48 million they are on the books (and hook) for this season. It's not just that they do not want to pay him, they also want him out of their lives. They need all the space on the floor for Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks, and Randy Foye at the shooting guard spot - the only spot Bell can play. Bell made a fuss about starting and having a big role, and even got Burks some late season DNP-CD's as a result. When Bell got injured the Jazz played well and made it to the playoffs. A 'healthy' Bell did not play a single minute of the playoffs though.

The Jazz want him out. And Bell was ready to move on. He was even thinking of taking his talents to South beach. The Miami Heat instead moved forward and got better shooters than Bell to join their team. While I would say Bell is still a better defender, Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis are better fits for their offense. As there is no current market for him, taking a buyout is no longer a solid career move for Raja. No team wants him. (Remember: this is a guy we STARTED. No team wants to even fill their roster with a discount, bought out Bell; and we started this joker. His MPG were going up every month up until his injury as well. Think about that. What the heck were our coaches doing? Trying to showcase how bad he was?)

No one wants him. The buyout looks in trouble now because Bell, who was cool with the idea before, now sees that no one would pick him up after. Saying "forget you" to Bell is harder now because he really doesn't want to part with his $3.48 million. And the Jazz have vowed to NEVER pay someone to not play for us (except in the Harpring deal where we actually paid part of his OKC salary, and when they cut Luther Wright mid-season, and so forth, but hey, don't use facts -- they make our franchise look like liars in some cases. Why do you hate the Jazz, Amar?). So, yeah, that sucks.

For more details on this situation I've found a YouTube video that explains it better.

Hint: Raja Bell is represented by Saruman, The White.