Former Jazz big man Jack Cooley has rejoined the team’s D-League affiliate, the farm club announced (hat tip to Adam Johnson of D-League Digest). The Jazz have held his D-League rights since last season, when they allocated him to their D-League team as an affiliate player. The 24-year-old from Notre Dame was last on an NBA roster with the Cavaliers, who picked him up during the preseason in part to offset the holdout of Tristan Thompson, but Thompson re-signed shortly before opening night, prompting Cleveland to waive Cooley.
The one-year NBA veteran is still eligible to sign with any NBA team. The Jazz originally brought him onto their NBA roster in the summer of 2014, a year after he’d gone undrafted out of Notre Dame. They cut him after camp, but after he averaged 16.8 points and 12.5 rebounds in 30.8 minutes per game for the D-League Idaho Stampede, they brought him back after the All-Star break on a pair of 10-day contracts and ultimately a deal that covered the rest of 2014/15, with a non-guaranteed 2015/16 tacked on. Utah cut him during the preseason for a second straight autumn this year before he wound up with the Cavs.
The Jazz have a full NBA roster for now, and so does Cleveland, though both teams have players without fully guaranteed contracts, so they have flexibility if they decide to give Cooley another shot. Teams are allowed to start signing players to 10-day contracts again on January 5th.
Do you think we’ll see Cooley with an NBA team this year? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.