The Jazz have agreed to sign free agent wing Romeo Langford to an Exhibit 10 contract, sources tell Tony Jones and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Langford, who will turn 24 this October, was drafted 14th overall by the Celtics in 2019 when current Jazz CEO Danny Ainge was Boston’s head of basketball operations.
The former Indiana Hoosier spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons in Boston before being traded to San Antonio, where he has played since February 2022. He became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 after the Spurs opted not issue him a qualifying offer.
Langford is a solid defender, but has struggled to make much of an impact on the offensive end of the floor. In 141 career regular season games, he has averaged 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .430/.288/.659.
Since he has four years of NBA service under his belt, Langford will be ineligible to have his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal. However, if he doesn’t earn a spot on Utah’s standard 15-man regular season roster and then spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, he’d be in line for a bonus worth up to $75K.
With 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, the Jazz currently have three open spots on their 21-man offseason roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to create space for Langford.
Danny Ainge drafted him and called him “Romey”, so apparently he still has a soft spot for him. And/or he can’t admit that he messed up that pick.
…likely the latter. Hope Romeo catches on in Utah, if he could just stay healthy, he’s worthy of a deep bench spot.
Always thought he’d be a solid scorer. At 24 now we have to start wondering. Celtics were never consistent with him. Thought he’d start breaking out with Spurs. Maybe Danny can help him.