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Jazz Waive Brian Butch, Trey Gilder

October 18th, 2012 at 4:38pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Jazz have waived training camp invitees Brian Butch and Trey Gilder, according to Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune. The move brings the team's roster down to 17 players, a number that includes Raja Bell, who's trying to negotiate a buyout from the team (Twitter links).

Both Butch and Gilder were on non-guaranteed deals for the minimum salary. The pair signed with Utah in late September, along with fellow invitees Chris Quinn and Darnell Jackson, who remain with the team and in the running for a spot on the opening-night roster. Kevin Murphy, whom the Jazz drafted in the second round this past June, has a partial guarantee of $200K on his deal, and 14 other players, including Bell, have fully guaranteed contracts, making it an uphill battle for Quinn and Jackson if they're to remain with the club.

Gilder had a cup of coffee with the Grizzlies in 2009/10, appearing for five minutes over two games. The 6'9" forward averaged 19.2 points and 7.7 rebounds in 37.0 minutes per game in 34 contests for the D-League's Sioux Falls SkyForce last year. Butch, a 6'11" center from the University of Wisconsin, signed with the Nuggets late in the 2009/10 season, but did not appear in a game. He was also in camp with the Hornets last year, but is still waiting to make his official NBA debut.

Jazz Sign Quinn, Gilder, Jackson

September 26th, 2012 at 10:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

10:16pm: The contract of second-round pick Kevin Murphy isn't guaranteed, Smith writes, so that means the Jazz only have 14 fully guaranteed contracts, including Raja Bell's. That provides a little extra room for one of the camp invitees to make the team.

8:54pm: The Jazz will bring point guard Chris Quinn to training camp, reports Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). The addition of Quinn, likely on a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal, brings the team's roster to 19 players. Quinn will likely compete for the final regular season roster spot with Trey Gilder, Darnell Jackson and Brian Butch, whose signings were officially announced via press release, as Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld notes via Twitter. Gilder and Jackson appeared close to invites earlier this month, while the signing of Butch was reportedly confirmed a few days ago.

Quinn has spent parts of five seasons in the NBA, with the Heat, Nets and finally the Spurs, with whom he made his last NBA appearance in 2010/11. The 6'2" 29-year-old averaged 4.6 points and 1.9 assists in 13.8 minutes per game with a 12.5 PER over his NBA career. He spent last season with Khimki BC in Russia, and put up 7.3 PPG and 2.9 APG in 19.4 MPG.

The Jazz have 15 fully guaranteed contracts, though one of them belongs to Raja Bell, who is attempting to negotiate a buyout. If he's successful, that would leave a spot open for Quinn, Gilder, Jackson or Butch, Teams aren't obligated to carry more than 13 players, though, so all of the recent signees must impress in order to stick around.

Brian Butch Signs With Jazz

September 23rd, 2012 at 9:46pm CST by Alex Lee

9:46pm: Brian Smith from the Salt Lake Tribune confirms the deal, tweeting that a person close to Butch described it as a "make-good deal." According to Smith, the Jazz's roster is now at 15 and Butch will be competing with Darnell Jackson and Trey Gilder for a roster spot. Smith averaged 15.3 points and 9.8 rebounds for the D-League's Bakersfield Jam last season.

7:59pm: Brian Butch has signed with the Jazz, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. After going undrafted in 2008 out of Wisconsin, Butch has bounced around the D-League and Europe. This is undoubtedly a non-guaranteed deal that gives Butch nothing more than an opportunity to make the team in training camp. We last heard from Butch less than a month ago when the Spurs brought him in for a workout.

Odds & Ends: Nuggets, Colangelo, Spurs, Celtics

August 31st, 2012 at 9:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets participated in the biggest trade of the offseason, getting Andre Iguodala in the four-team swap that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, and Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com speculates that GM Masai Ujiri might not be done dealing. Howard-Cooper, replying to a fan question on Twitter, says he thinks the team will look to move a wing player or a power forward to alleviate logjams at those positions, but cautions that Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, each of whom is owed more than $30MM, are not likely trade candidates. Here's the rest of the news from the Association with less than a month to go before the start of training camp:

Jerry Colangelo wants to remain as chairman of USA Basketball at least through the 2016 Olympics, USA Today reports. He's likely to receive formal approval to stay in early 2013, and says he's spoken to Mike Krzyzewski in hopes of luring him back as coach.
Agent Keith Kreiter of Edge Sports says via Twitter that the Spurs will bring in Brian Butch and Warren Carter for workouts next week, while the Celtics will audition Darryl Partin (hat tip to Michael A. De Leon of Project Spurs). Butch, a former University of Wisconsin center, was in camp with the Hornets before last season, while Carter, a forward from Illinois, got a look from the Knicks in camp in 2009. Partin, a guard, went undrafted this June out of Boston University.
A shoulder injury forced Channing Frye to miss the Suns' de facto postseason play-in game at the end of last season with the Jazz, and while he's been cleared for contact, he might not be ready in time for opening night, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports.