Way to go Jazz . . . Way to go Mr. Williams! This is awesome and will keep the Jazz in contention as long as he is there. It is nice to see a player and a franchise committed to each other and to the community. First class player and first class organization. Any complainers should come to Seattle. Our team moved to a cow pasture in some place I would never want to visit. Fans in Utah have a lot to be grateful for.

I am so glad we were able to get this done, Deron is the cornerstone of the franchise, and the future. Way to go finally getting it done.

Congrats Deron for becoming the richest person ever from The Colony Texas. You've made us proud!!!

Atta Boy There Derron .

Exhale!

YESSSSSSSS!!!

4-years with a player option on the 5th

Please

That's great news. Now GET HIM SOME HELP!!!

is the man.

Good job, Deron. You make us all proud. We're happy you're here.

Please say 5 years. This guy is like family now in Utah.

Where are the nay sayers now? There have been several babbling how Deron would back out of the deal and be gone to the big city for endorsements and more money. Same people that say the players hate coach, don't want to be here, and Sloan can't win. Deron is one of the premier players in the league and would not be sticking around if Sloan was a lousy coach and did not want to win. Wrong again and again--no surprise there though.

Anyway, I suspect the deal will be 3 years with an option for a 4th. Maybe 4 with option of 5th. If KOC got all 5 he is a magician. I have no problem with the shorter deals though--it will put pressure on Miller and KOC to deliver D-Will the personnel to have a legit chance to win or, risk having him walk away after 3-4 years.

If we could get "Fez the Pez" or "Koufus the Dufus" developed into the big we need to plug the middle and defend--we are well on our way!

Go D-Will and go Jazz!!

Why aren't the Jazz out there wheelin' and dealin' to get William's some help. Other teams like NO, LAC and even SA and making there situations better. Utah is peddling backwards this off season ... they HAD potential, I see it falling away.

now we need to build around him. he is a great player. his consistency is what makes him great. stay injury free and he will be one of the best point guards to play in the nba.

nice job jazz...4 to 5 year if all goes well.

I second that on the 4 years with player option for the fifth. Please !!!!!!!!!!!!

Question to all:

Why does the U.S send an "All Star" team to the Olympics instead of the winner of the NBA title. It would seem that the NBA champs know how to play as a team, where the "All Star" team is made of great individual players that are used to being ball hogs and playing against each other.

Congrats D-Will on "gettin' paid", now show us why you're worth the BIG BUCKS & put this team on your now heavily paid shoulders & bring us a CHAMPIONSHIP!
With much praise comes much responsibility & I'm sure you'll do all your fans proud. Oh, and keep rapping with Booze & Okur to remind them why Salt Lake is the best option for them to win a titlewhile you're raking in the dough. the fans who can't afford to pad your pockets with high ticket prices & even higher merchandise prices wish you the best...as long as you're producing!

this is great news!! I have been sitting on pins and needles! I am very relieved!! Go D-Will, you are truely a class act and Jazz fans are extremely happy that you are here to stay!! GO Jazz!!!!

Congrats to Deron, and The Jazz brass. Deron is a big reason why we bought another years worth of Season Tickets. To watch players that bring it every night is a skill that too few players in this league possess.

On 1280 The Zone an NBA insider said it was a 3 yr. deal w/ option for 4th yr.

Yes! Deron you are a complete class act! Oh, and you're pretty darn good at basketball too. Go Jazz!

I am the lone voice of sanity. Players all say the want to win, but then insist on max-money contracts. Then they wonder why the team cannot get other good players.

Pro sports is so out of whack that it is silly. I personally won't buy tickets any more because of it.

Kudos to Deron for being able to get max money, but Boozer will leave next year, going after bigger money elsewhere. Sure it is a business, but it takes heart to win a championship.

First, the winner of the NBA title is not necessarily made up of American players. Take the Spurs recent championship team with Ginobili and Oberto. The NBA has players from all over the world, so that alone makes the idea unfeasable. Any one NBA champion would not have the talent level to compete in the Olympics, and "team chemistry" is overrated (not unimportant, just overrated). The fact is that USA basketball needs to do a better job building a team with players who will fill their role and not all-stars if they want to dominate. Sadly, the Olympics is more about glitz and money these days and the world wants to watch American All-Stars, so that is who we send. They Dream Team is long gone and the world has caught up.

I am excited that D-Will is staying, but worried that in four years Boozer might already be in Miami with D-Will looking for greener pastures when his contract expires. We need LHM to keep an active roll with the Jazz while his son learns the ropes or the Jazz will crumble.

Anyone who spends a dime to watch these players play is a fool. Boycott the NBA for a year and watch the prices drop. I use to love the NBA and spend lots of money on it. Now I have regained a great love for the high school game. Salaries are a joke, lets stay away.

thanks Deron, you wont let us down, unlike some of your teammates. I love you man!

Great news for Jazz fans. With the change in mgt. it begins a new era for the Jazz and what could be more appropriate than to sign D-Will. Without LHM's commitment with time and money, the Jazz would be somewhere else. But LHM knows he is a key cog. There are other important cogs such as Sloan, KOC, Phil Johnson, Tye Corbin, Scott Layden, exces in other key rolls too. It is the SYNERGISM of the Jazz that makes it a very successful with LHM at the head. GO JAZZ. Looking forward to next year.

Sending the Celtics to the olympics would be a terrible idea. First of all, they barely beat the worst team in the playoffs which went 7 games.

Plus the US olympic team isn't that selfish from what I could tell from watching them dominate last year. I saw flashes of the dream team of old.

I'm going to Vegas next week to see them play like a team and dominate Canada in person. Go USA!

By the way, I would have liked to have seen Deron sign a 4 year contract with a player option in the 5th year. But I'm extremely happy he's staying for at least 4 more years!

The best player of the Jazz deserves to be paid the most.

Anyone else concerned he took the shortest available contract? That tells me he isn't sold on the direction the team is going.

Cody:

I'm not worried about D-will taking the 3 year deal. He does it because the Collective Bargaining Agreement ends in three years, which means he can opt out and make even more money for the Jazz. I think it is smart on his part because if he is going to be the posterboy for small-market Utah and bust his butt to bring home a title, he deserves the King's ransom. now, hopefully we will be able to surround him with talent that will make him not want to leave

I hope the Jazz lose every game and that the injury bug finally bites them!

get a job

I was hoping he wouldn't request max money. He's shown us that he's definitely worth his salary, but I think he would be worth more then max money if he would be willing to take less then max money. Even if he only took a few million less per year, that gives the Jazz more flexibility do sign the free agents that will put us over the top. Unless the Jazz brass are planning on going into the luxury tax (which I don't remember them doing in the past) don't count on us keeping Okur and Boozer (both of which are essential parts of the team). This could be our best chance for a title for a few years. With Booz and Okur playing in a contract year, their production should go through the roof.

move to miami

I used to go to 10+ Jazz games a year. Since the lockout and the crazy salaries I refuse to pay for a ticket anymore. Haven't bought merchandise either. I make close to 150K and I think it is outrageous to spend $300 to take a small family to a game. Price to Entertainment Ratio is out of whack. I'm glad D-Will got the 70M but I won't be paying for any of that salary. :)

No. Move to LA

What a waste of money. How many new school teachers could be hired? How many more schools could be built? All that cash to fuel an ego. What a society we live in.

Kudos to the Jazz on this deal! D-Will is the future of this team. Now, if they want to keep Boozer, it may be time to trade kirilenko and his outrageous contract. Even a slightly better than average SF, like a Danny Granger, Shane Battier or even a James Posey-ish player would suffice. With the addition of Korver, and if Almond gets more playing time, and if Koufus really has the passion and work ethic he says he has, Okur may be expendible. They will have all the outside shooting they would need and Koufus couldn't be any worse on defense. In the end though, D-Will will be the difference maker so he deserves the money. GO JAZZ!!!

NV, please.

You could build 10,000 new schools and it wouldn't do a bit of good because there aren't enough good teachers.

You could fit all of the decent teachers in this nation into the lower bowl.

I think boozer and willams are tied to be the best playes(s) on the the team

You're on the wrong message board. You need to go to some .edu site to spout your complaints.

"How many new school teachers could be hired? How many more schools could be built?"

The answer is ZERO!

The Jazz (who are paying out the money) don't hire new school teachers nor build schools.

Conversely, schools districts would not pay D-Will to play basketball.

And that's exactly how it should be!

Congrats DERON!!! We are thrilled that you are staying!

Thanks Deron... Mr. Miller will be thrilled, and I hope that you bring Utah a Title.

It's not easy being green!

You are a great player. I loved you at Illinois State.

NV,

My wife is a teacher and I understand where your coming from. If people paid to watch police,firefighters and teachers then it would all be fair.

Concerning your school comment. Very large families raise school class size and thus the cost for schools and thus more teachers are unable to be hired due to lack of money. Catch 22 really.

Not against large families but govt. at all levels costs money and someone pays regardless.

I had a person who had a large family tell me one time that if they had to pay for all of their 8 children to attend school they would not have been able to afford that many children. They then thanked me for helping pay for their extra children to attend school.

Congratulations to DWill and the Jazz. The three year deal with a player option for the fourth year will allow DWill to get a larger contract when the contract expires and the Jazz will benefit because they can offer the most when it does.

DWill wants to be here or he would have played out this coming year and moved on for the most money.

D-Will has made his intentions known to the Jazz front office that if they can't improve within 3 years he will be gone. I hope Kevin O'Connor has taken notice and is looking for some players that can compliment him. It will be a sad day for Jazz fans when he walks out the the door in 3 years because we built a team of soft pine riders around him that neither can d-up or score. Best of luck and congrats on the money!

He should take every dime they will give him. How many schools they could build is not relevant to this discussion. This is basketball, not second rate utah public school education. NV, zip it.

I'm a little concerned that he's signing the minimum time period for max money. Shows little commitment to the city.
I don't begrudge it though because this is a business and KOC reminds us of that when management trades/axes a local favorite like Dee Brown.
Since the Jazz is a businesslike team, not a rich man's hobby team, we can expect that the goal of management is to maximize entertainment value (i.e. sell seats, beer, paraphenalia) for minimal investment. I'm guessing a team that gets to the playoffs each year is good enough if the PR dept. and their local press lackeys (who have to run some kind of story every day to keep interest up) can keep everybody thinking "maybe next year". That's the money making machine we call Utah Jazz. Hats off to LHM.