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The Utah Jazz and center Mehmet Okur have agreed in principle to a two-year contract extension worth just under $21 million, according to NBA front-office sources.
Okur could have been a free agent this summer but elected on June 30 to complete the final season on his current contract with the Jazz at $9 million.
Sources told ESPN.com that Okur and the Jazz have quickly reached terms to extend the contract by two more seasons at $20.8 million starting in 2010-11.
With Andrei Kirilenko still on the books for two more seasons, Utah still faces difficult decisions on restricted free agent Paul Millsap and Team USA forward Carlos Boozer as it tries to solidify its long-term support cast around face of the franchise Deron Williams.
After Boozer, like Okur, elected to play out the 2009-10 season with the Jazz at $12.7 million instead of becoming a free agent July 1, it's widely believed that Utah's preference is trading Boozer to create the financial flexibility needed to re-sign Millsap.
Okur, 30, averaged 17.0 points and 7.7 rebounds in 2008-09, his fifth season in Utah after leaving the Detroit Pistons to sign with the Jazz as a free agent in 2004.
Okur could have been a free agent this summer but elected on June 30 to complete the final season on his current contract with the Jazz at $9 million.
Sources told ESPN.com that Okur and the Jazz have quickly reached terms to extend the contract by two more seasons at $20.8 million starting in 2010-11.
With Andrei Kirilenko still on the books for two more seasons, Utah still faces difficult decisions on restricted free agent Paul Millsap and Team USA forward Carlos Boozer as it tries to solidify its long-term support cast around face of the franchise Deron Williams.
After Boozer, like Okur, elected to play out the 2009-10 season with the Jazz at $12.7 million instead of becoming a free agent July 1, it's widely believed that Utah's preference is trading Boozer to create the financial flexibility needed to re-sign Millsap.
Okur, 30, averaged 17.0 points and 7.7 rebounds in 2008-09, his fifth season in Utah after leaving the Detroit Pistons to sign with the Jazz as a free agent in 2004.
