JULY 7TH, 3:50pm: The discussion appears to be moving in a positive direction, according to Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune, who’d be surprised if the sides don’t reach a deal (Twitter link).
JULY 1ST, 12:37am: The Jazz are engaged in contract talks with German draft-and-stash center Tibor Pleiss, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News reports (Twitter link). The two sides are discussing contract structure, and Utah’s intent is for the big man to play in the NBA during the 2015/16 campaign. Utah acquired the rights to the 25-year-old from the Thunder in the trade for Enes Kanter.
Pleiss wasn’t satisfied with his role for Barcelona this past season, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com relayed, and his discontent there appeared to be a factor when Pleiss and the Jazz were reportedly in talks about a deal this past season. Utah is in need of frontcourt depth behind Rudy Gobert, and Pleiss could fit the bill on that front.
The 7’2″ center appeared in 58 contests split between the Euroleague and Liga ACB this past season. Pleiss notched averages of 5.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 13.8 minutes per game. His career stats are 7.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 0.8 BPG, with a slash line of .574/.381/.811.