The Jazz have waived veteran guard Shaquille Harrison in advance of today’s salary guarantee deadline, the team announced in a press release. Ben Anderson of KSL Sports first reported (via Twitter) that Utah was cutting Harrison.
A 6’4″ guard who previously played for Phoenix and Chicago and has a reputation as a strong defender, Harrison signed a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract with the Jazz during the offseason. Although he appeared in 17 games for the team, he never established himself as a rotation player — virtually all of his minutes came in garbage time of double-digit wins or losses.
By waiving him today, the Jazz will avoid paying Harrison’s full-season salary. Rather than carrying a $1.62MM cap hit for the guard, they’ll assume a $770,433 dead-money charge, assuming he passes through waivers unclaimed. If another team claims him, Utah could remove his cap hit entirely.
The Jazz have two other players with non-guaranteed contracts, but there’s no indication that Miye Oni or Juwan Morgan are going anywhere. Assuming they remain on the roster through today, their 2020/21 salaries will become fully guaranteed.
Utah now has two open spots on its 15-man roster and will have to fill at least one of those openings within the next two weeks, perhaps by signing a player to a 10-day contract.
Heat should be all over this, as should a couple of other teams that use defense at certain positions. Portland, GS, maybe Denver
…*that could use defense lol
I would have added Utah to that list though. Surprise cut to me since they need his type.
Harrison is a solid player. Just seems the Jazz realized they only want guys that are great shooters on the perimeter. Having 4 shooters and a defensive big has done very well for them this year, to say the least. Lol
I could see Harrison on the Heat or even Thunder.