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The NBA now knows the official salary cap number for the 2019-2020 season. That figure? $109,140,000. That might seem like an arbitrary number, but that number means that in order for Utah to complete the Mike Conley trade on July 6th, they will have to cut either Raul Neto or Georges Niang. Right now, it appears that Raul Neto—our wolfie—is the leading candidate to be cut.
Biggest loser under this new cap: the Utah Jazz, who really needed it to jump up to about 109.28M in order to not have to cut another player to make the Conley trade. Leader in the clubhouse should be Raul Neto, though I've heard some rumblings Georges Niang is being considered.
— Jeff Siegel (@jgsiegel) June 30, 2019
If the salary cap was only $100,000 more, the Utah Jazz wouldn’t have had to release Raul Neto or Georges Niang to complete the trade for Mike Conley. As such, the Utah Jazz are going to open up yet another roster and lose additional depth. This is another reason why Utah drafted every player in the second round during the NBA Draft.
While Raul Neto has been a solid piece for Utah, he has been unable to play consistent backup point guard minutes because of his size. Georges Niang fits the profile of a stretch four in the modern NBA and Utah is high on his future potential. I honestly would be shocked if Utah chose Raul Neto over Georges Niang due to Neto’s struggles with staying healthy and guarding larger point guards.
The Utah Jazz roster continues to get reshaped whether intentionally or unintentionally.