4:35pm: The Jazz have officially signed Harrison, the team announced in a press release.
3:03pm: The Jazz are finalizing a contract agreement with free agent guard Shaquille Harrison, sources tell Shams Charania and Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’ll be a one-year, minimum-salary deal, Charania adds (via Twitter).
Harrison, 27, spent the last two seasons with the Bulls, averaging 5.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 116 total games (16.5 MPG). Harrison’s offensive output, including a shooting line of .442/.305/.706 as a Bull, was relatively modest, but he’s considered a strong perimeter defender.
The Jazz indicated heading into the offseason that they were making it a priority to add defensive-minded players to their roster. Harrison certainly fits that bill — he has averaged 2.3 steals per 36 minutes over the course of his NBA career, and the Bulls had a 99.7 defensive rating when he was on the court in 2019/20, compared to a 110.0 mark when he sat.
The Jazz only have 11 players with fully guaranteed salaries for 2020/21, so Harrison looks like a good bet to make the regular season roster. Utah also has a pair of openings on its 20-man training camp roster, so no corresponding move will be required to sign Harrison.
2 decades later and Lil’Penny finally gets a Lil’ Shaq
Sounds like a solid pickup with low risk. Shooting is modest but can be improved with a little confidence. Welcome to the Jazz!
SHAQ to play for the Jazz !!
Cripes Shaq shoots better than that… last year per 36′: 38%3, 50%2, 78%1… 16p-6r-4a-3s-1b-4f… 3.6/1.4 T/A=2.57… PER 18, BPM 2.8, WS/48 .153… plus11 O-Drtg, PLUS12.2 ON/OFF, plus killer defense!
The NBA slept except for Utah. If he shows well in more minutes, he could start if Conley leaves. If Utah had a better Conley sub, they could have beat Denver, then been the beneficiary of the Clipper collapse. Final 4!
This year, Utah signed Mitchell, will get Bojan & Favors back, and IMO, filled their biggest hole. Prob final4 this time.
CHI will have to get lucky with Pat Williams to match last year… PW did not shoulder weight at FSU.
how good is pat williams anyways???? i remmber they drafted lauri, wendell, coby, and others, and they still cant make playoffs.
thought they were gonna get shabazz napier whos could play point and SG and could shoot, drop dimes, and averages 1.6 steals per game. oh well at least this guy could shoot and defend so hes a nice 3 and D wing for now. clarkson could shoot but cant do no defense so thats a smart choice.
Shaq Harrison FINALLY! Man, the rest of the league messed up, especially letting someone smart like, Utah, sign him. He should be a significant addition next to Clarkson or Mitchell, and also a really good fit next to Bogdanovic, in my opinion, and should also take away some burden defensively from Joe Ingles and Royce O’neale…
So many teams should have been all over him
He’s currently recovering from a hand or wrist injury. Probably too risky for some who needed him right away. The Jazz have enough depth this year to afford to wait.
After watching his bball clips I can honestly say that the Jazz definitely got a good one. You can’t fake defensive talent like that.
Plus, his shot mechanics are actually not bad. Maybe he moves his head too much when he has a poor shooting night? Coach Snyder is a master teacher and student of the game. He and his staff can help him for sure.
Keep in mind, defense comes from taking personally anyone that tries to score on you. It also takes always looking for an aggressive way to take the ball away.
Look at how well he goes after the ball. He’s not just sitting there letting the offense happen. He’s proactive vs reactive.