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SALT LAKE CITY - The Jazz will keep their offseason busy by parting ways with disgruntled shooting guard Raja Bell.
The deal can't become official until July 11, but if and when it becomes official it will allow Bell to walk away from the Jazz as a free agent. It will also allow the team to open up a roster spot and save some money.
The 35-year-old Bell was scheduled to make $3.4 million. The Jazz won't pay him all of the money, but it will still remain on the team's salary cap until the end of the season. The verbal agreement was first reported by Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune.
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This split is no surprise from looking at the splintered relationship between the player and the club. Bell and head coach Tyrone Corbin's relationship was rocky at best during the second half of the season. It started with Bell being sent home from a road trip and ended with Bell playing 18 total minutes after March 15, a majority coming from an injury, despite the severity of the injury being disputed from both parties.
During Bell's exit interview with the media he talked about not being "100 percent sure it would work out" during the season and at that point he didn't expect to return with the Jazz. He recognized that there was a youth movement, but that he wasn't being communicated to about what his role or the direction of the team was.
The buyout might come as a surprise from the Jazz's track record. They simply haven't payed players to not play for them. General manager Kevin O'Connor said during the exit interviews "Raja has a contract and we expect him to honor it, and if we can make our team better we will."
The 12-year veteran was in his second stint with the Jazz. He first played for the team from the '03-'05 seasons where emerged as a defensive specialist and proficient three-point shooter. He was brought back before the 2010 season and was expected to pick up the same role with Jerry Sloan as the head coach, Deron Williams feeding him the ball and stability.
As Sloan, Williams and the stability went away Corbin took over as head coach things started to fall apart. This season he averaged 23 minutes a game, his lowest since his third year in the league when he played with the Mavericks. He played in 34 games and started in all but one of those, but his minutes went down over time. His 6.4 points per game was also his lowest since his third season.
Bell described the differences of his relationships with Sloan and Corbin as "night and day, for whatever reason, just two different people."
As a veteran on the team he became vocal about the direction he felt the team should be going, which lead to the altercation that got him sent home. His relationship with Corbin strained more and the communication dried up according to Bell.
The lack of communication was also brought up by C.J. Miles, who is now a free agent. Miles said that he felt there was a lack of communication, but added that he believes Corbin is a good coach and will get better.
His first go-around with the Jazz he averaged 37 and 40 percent for three and his percentages just kept going up over 44 percent as he played for the Suns, in his two seasons and in his latest go around he shot 35 and 39 percent from deep.
