Utah Jazz Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Thomas, Wolves, Jensen

March 25th, 2021 at 11:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Nuggets reshaped their rotation with the additions of forward Aaron Gordon and reserve center JaVale McGee. Mike Singer of the Denver Post details Denver’s thinking behind the two acquisitions.

Singer cites the interest of Denver head coach Mike Malone in adding an experienced, rim-protecting playoff veteran in the post as the motivation behind adding McGee. The Nuggets are hopeful that McGee can help add some interior toughness against his old team, the Lakers.

The addition of Gordon makes sense as a solid “tweener” forward replacement for departed small forward Jerami Grant, capable of making an impact on both ends of the floor, Singer contends. The Nuggets did their due diligence in researching Gordon’s off-court fit as well as his on-court fit. Singer also notes that, because the team moved on from Gary Harris as part of the Gordon deal, Will Barton now appears destined to become the club’s starting shooting guard for the rest of the year.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

The Jazz view new acquisition Matt Thomas as a keeper beyond this season, per Tony Jones of The Athletic (via Twitter). The 6’4″ shooting guard has a non-guaranteed $1.78MM salary for the 2021/22 season, but Utah doesn’t intend to waive him in the offseason. Thomas appeared in 26 games for the Raptors this season, averaging just 7.4 MPG.
The front office of the lowly Timberwolves, led by team president Gersson Rosas, opted to stand pat at the trade deadline. Jon Krawczynski and Britt Robson of The Athletic report that the Wolves wanted a power forward upgrade, but struggled to find a deal they liked. Minnesota is the worst team in the West with a 10-34 record. “We could’ve acquired those high-end guys today, but it’s short term,” Rosas said. “From a long-term perspective, we’re very excited about our young guys and what the future holds for them. That’s why we weren’t as active as we potentially could’ve been.”
Jazz assistant coach — and Utah Utes alum — Alex Jensen has withdrawn from consideration for the head coaching gig with his alma mater, according to Christopher Kamrani and Tony Jones of The Athletic. “He had great conversations with [Utah Athletic Director] Mark Harlan and knows it is a very positive situation but the timing was not right,” a source told Kamrani and Jones.

Woj’s Latest: Drummond, Aldridge, Blazers, Oladipo, Redick, Hornets

March 24th, 2021 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

If Andre Drummond and LaMarcus Aldridge receive buyouts rather than being traded, the Lakers and Heat are widely viewed as the respective frontrunners to sign them. Adrian Wojnarowski essentially confirmed that point during today’s Woj & Lowe Trade Deadline Special on ESPN, though he noted that both big men would have plenty of options on the buyout market.

The Nets, Clippers, Celtics, and Mavericks would have interest in Drummond, according to Wojnarowski. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said he expects the Hornets to pursue Aldridge if he hits waivers.

The ability to compete for a championship would be a top priority for both veteran bigs, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter links), who hears that a championship ring would be “the driving force” for Aldridge. As for Drummond, while the Mavs would have interest, they expect he’d hunt for a ring with Brooklyn or one of the L.A. teams, says Townsend.

Here are a few more notable tidbits from the Woj & Lowe Trade Deadline Special that aired on ESPN this afternoon:

The Trail Blazers have been “very active” in trade discussions, according to Wojnarowski, who pointed to Norman Powell and Victor Oladipo as players who could appeal to Portland.
Wojnarowski gets the sense that the Rockets will be able to land a mid first-round pick in exchange for Oladipo. However, Woj downplayed New York’s interest in the veteran guard: “I don’t sense the interest in a future partnership with Oladipo is significant with the Knicks.”
The Jazz could be a dark-horse suitor for Pelicans guard J.J. Redick in the event of a buyout, says Wojnarowski. Still, the Nets are viewed as the probable frontrunner in that scenario, since Redick’s family is based in Brooklyn. “Geography may play a big part in this,” Woj said.
The Hornets had been scouring the market for a frontcourt upgrade, but may “retreat” a little following LaMelo Ball‘s wrist injury, per Wojnarowski.

Western Notes: Johnson, Redick, Blazers, Jensen

March 23rd, 2021 at 10:08pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks forward James Johnson missed five games for Dallas due to both traveling for a family emergency and then needing to enter COVID-19 protocols, but the veteran enforcer rejoined the Mavericks for a team practice today, according to Dwain Price of Mavs.com. Johnson can return to the hardwood tomorrow for the club’s game against the Timberwolves, Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com (Twitter link) adds.

“We don’t get that much chemistry going on throughout this [COVID-19] thing, and how we have to be separated a lot,” Johnson noted of this unique 2020/21 season. “The times that we can get it are at practice and on the road, and I miss that.”

There’s more out of the Western Conference:

Veteran Pelicans wing J.J. Redick is most likely to be bought out of his expiring $13MM contract after the trade deadline passes, and ink a deal with a team on the East Coast to be near his family, sources tell Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons and forward Nassir Little have entered the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocols and are missing at least this evening’s contest against the Nets, Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com tweets.
Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen has been given the go-ahead by the team to interview for the head coaching gig with his alma matter, the University of Utah, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (via Twitter). Brandon Judd of the Deseret News notes that Jensen, a former Utes player, has been on the Jazz’s bench since 2013.

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Blazers, Nurkic, Wolves

March 22nd, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz still have an open spot on their 15-man roster and they’re likely to fill it sooner or later, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. That could happen by Thursday’s deadline, but if Utah doesn’t add a player in a deadline deal, the team figures to scour the buyout market after March 25.

As for what type of player the Jazz may be targeting, league sources tell Jones that the club is in the market for a perimeter defender who could perhaps play 10-15 minutes against top perimeter scorers. Ideally, that player would also be able to knock down three-pointers, but there won’t be many solid three-and-D wings available for cheap on the trade market or in free agency.

The Jazz won’t be upset if they don’t find that player by Thursday, according to Jones, who says the club is happy with its current rotation and team chemistry.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

The Trail Blazers became the latest team to have many of their players receive the coronavirus vaccine. The team announced today in a press release that 13 players received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, having received access to an excess supply from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Although Jusuf Nurkic remains sidelined for the Trail Blazers, the wrist he underwent surgery on in January has been cleared, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic, who notes (via Twitter) that Nurkic’s return is now being delayed by a right calf strain.
The Timberwolves will welcome fans back to the Target Center beginning on April 5 vs. Sacramento, the team announced in a press release. The club didn’t clarify exactly what the limited capacity will be in its arena for the rest of the season.

Northwest Notes: Favors, Thunder, Clarkson, Rubio

March 21st, 2021 at 3:15pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Longtime Jazz reserve big man Derrick Favors spoke extensively with Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune about his past and sunny new future with Utah, noting that he wasn’t surprised when Utah sent him to the Pelicans for future draft equity during the 2019 offseason to clear cap space for incoming point guard Mike Conley‘s contract.

“I wanted to be here,” Favors said. “I wanted to stay. I thought I was going to stay. But it was because of the money, the business side.”

The Jazz could have declined their $18MM team option on Favors for the 2019/20 season, but the Pelicans were happy to pay that sum in full upon making a deal. “If Utah would have waived me, I would have lost a lot of money, but they ended up trading me, and I’m blessed and thankful that New Orleans was willing to pick up that option for me,” Favors noted.

Favors’ Pelicans teammates raved about his fit within the club’s locker room and on the court. “Nothing but respect for D-Fav,” New Orleans guard Lonzo Ball said. “We know he did all the little things that we needed to win games.”

Favors was excited to get another opportunity in the 2020 offseason with the Jazz, who were all business in their recruitment.

“They literally just said, ‘Hey, you want to come back? We want you, here’s what we’re offering. Do you want to take it or not?’ It kinda felt like that!” Favors noted. “I didn’t want to waste my time or waste an opportunity… and I knew with Utah that they had other guys that they wanted to go after if I didn’t commit, so I didn’t want to waste Utah’s time.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

The Thunder will likely receive inquiries on just about every player on their roster, as team president Sam Presti looks to acquire even more future draft picks, but Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman thinks veteran role players like George Hill, Al Horford, and Mike Muscala could be next in line to be dealt.
Jazz reserve guard Jordan Clarkson, the current favorite for 2021 Sixth Man of the Year honors at present, has taken a massive stride in his scoring output — but the growth of his passing deserves recognition, too, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “It’s just another growth part of my game that I’m trying to keep improving on,” Clarkson said.
After a rough start to the 2020/21 season, Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio has turned things around in the month of March, so much so that the 30-year-old vet has become a potential trade chip for a Minnesota team that now may not want to deal him away as the deadline looms, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. A reinvigorated Rubio seems to have developed great chemistry with No. 1 2020 draft pick Anthony Edwards and (former No. 1 draft pick) Karl-Anthony Towns.

NBA Concludes Millsap/Lindsey Investigation

March 16th, 2021 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced on Monday that it has concluded its investigation into Elijah Millsap‘s allegations that Jazz executive Dennis Lindsey made a racially insensitive comment during a 2015 exit meeting and found no evidence to support the claim, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The league interviewed Lindsey, GM Justin Zanik, and head coach Quin Snyder – all of whom were present at the meeting – as well as Millsap and agent Daniel Hazan. Lindsey, Zanik, and Snyder all denied the statement was made, while Hazan said Millsap hadn’t made him aware of it during his two season with the Jazz, per Wojnarowski.

Jazz Notes: Ilyasova, Fans, Mitchell, Gobert

March 12th, 2021 at 10:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Ersan Ilyasova, who signed with the Jazz earlier this week, won’t get rushed into action, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. Ilyasova bided his time in free agency, waiting for an opportunity this season, until Utah came calling.

“I think he’s anxious to contribute in any way that he can,” coach Quin Snyder said. “We don’t expect him to show up and be ready to go right away. That’s not to say that he won’t be in many senses, but there’s an adjustment period, and we’re patient with him. I want him to be patient with himself.”

Ilyasova jumped at the chance to join the team with the league’s best record, as a story posted on the team’s website notes. The veteran forward played for the Bucks the past two seasons.

“The communication is there. They trust each other,” he said. “I watched the games before — the way they play and the chemistry is at a high level. When you see the way they play, share the ball, move the ball, everybody back each other, this is what it takes to win a championship.”

We have more on the Jazz:

The team will allow more fans into Vivint Smart Home Arena during the second half of the season, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Utah will host a max of 5,600 fans into the arena, which has a capacity of 18,300.
An article in The Athletic last spring suggested that the relationship between Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert was irreparably damaged after Mitchell believed he contracted COVID-19 from his teammate. However, the two All-Stars are on very good terms now and that earlier report actually helped them patch things up, Mitchell told Jones in an in-depth article. “It brought out a level of determination in both of us that we never had,” Mitchell said. “I never had a controversy like that. Here we were, the two pillars of the team, and we had to go to the playoffs in two months. It brought out a different level of tenacity in both of us.”
Are Gobert and Jordan Clarkson the frontrunners for Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year, respectively? Join our discussion on the NBA’s 2020/21 awards right here.

Jazz Sign Ersan Ilyasova

March 10th, 2021 at 3:42pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 10: The Jazz have officially signed Ilyasova, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

MARCH 9: Free agent power forward Ersan Ilyasova has agreed to a sign a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract with the Jazz, sources tell Jordan Schultz of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Schultz, Ilyasova is expected to officially sign on Wednesday after completing the COVID-19 protocol.

Ilyasova, who made his NBA debut back in 2006, has appeared in over 800 regular season contests for the Bucks and five other teams. In 2019/20, he averaged 6.6 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a .466/.365/.828 shooting line in 63 games (15.7 MPG) for Milwaukee.

Last season’s 36.5% mark from three-point range matches Ilyasova’s career rate, and his ability to stretch the floor from the power forward spot has been valuable over the years. While he’s not the most switchable or versatile defender, the 33-year-old has shown an uncanny knack over the years for taking charges on the defensive end.

Utah has had plenty of success this season with a forward rotation that includes Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, and Georges Niang, so it’s unclear if Ilyasova will see action outside of garbage time or if he’ll simply provide some extra frontcourt depth.

The Jazz had been carrying 13 players on standard contracts since waiving Shaquille Harrison on February 24. Since the NBA allows teams to dip below the required 14-player minimum for only two weeks at a time, they needed to add a player before the second half got underway this week, as we detailed on Monday. After signing Ilyasova, Utah will still have an open spot on its 15-man roster, but won’t have to fill it immediately — or at all.

Ilyasova will earn $17,567 per day for the rest of the regular season, with Utah’s cap hit working out to $11,100 per day. The exact rest-of-season figures will depend on when he officially signs — assuming it happens on Wednesday, he’ll earn $1,194,542 with a cap charge of $754,783.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Community Shootaround: Utah Jazz

March 8th, 2021 at 9:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The team with the best record in the NBA gets precious little respect.

The Jazz reached the All-Star break ahead of the pack in the rugged Western Conference but no one seems to take them seriously. Back in January, TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal refused to give Donovan Mitchell the superstar label, claiming that Mitchell doesn’t impact the game beyond scoring.

When it came time to choose sides in the NBA All-Star draft last week, Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were the last two picks by Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

“There’s no slander to the Utah Jazz,” James claimed. “You guys got to understand, just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah. Even as great as Karl Malone and John Stockton was, we would never pick those guys in video games. Never.”

Mitchell was not pleased by the perceived insult.

The best way for the Jazz to respond is to finish what they started. The Jazz have been a playoff team the last four seasons. They got knocked out in the first round the last two years after getting eliminated in the conference semifinals in back-to-back seasons.

Last season, Mitchell tried to will his team past Denver, averaging 36.3 PPG in an epic seven-game series, but the Jazz came up just short in Game 7.

Utah didn’t have Bojan Bogdanovic in that series due to a wrist injury. Otherwise, the Jazz have virtually the same rotation as they did at the end of last year. Their chemistry makes them tough to beat in the regular season but the postseason is a different animal, when the biggest stars shine.

That brings us to our topic of the day: Can the Jazz finally overcome their recent history and make a deep playoff run? Or is the team with the best record in the NBA destined for another early-round flameout?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.

Several 10-Day Contracts Expire; Multiple Teams Have Roster Spots To Fill

March 8th, 2021 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

All seven of the 10-day contracts that were signed during the final week of February have now expired. As our 10-day tracker shows, that list included three Nets deals (Tyler Cook, Iman Shumpert, and Andre Roberson), along with contracts signed by the Pelicans (Sindarius Thornwell), Raptors (Donta Hall), Lakers (Damian Jones), and Kings (Norvel Pelle).

None of those players have been re-signed to a second 10-day deal so far, but that comes as no surprise. The five teams that had players on 10-day contracts won’t begin their second-half schedules until Thursday at the earliest (Friday for the Lakers), so it doesn’t make sense to sign someone to a 10-day contract now and waste the first few days of the deal.

That doesn’t mean that all the players listed above will get a second 10-day stint with their respective teams later this week, but some of them seem like good bets to stick around a little longer. Jones, for instance, looked good during his 10 days as a Laker, putting up eight points in eight minutes in his first appearance and earning a start in Sacramento last Wednesday.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that the Lakers and Pelicans are now carrying 13 players on standard contracts, while the Nets are carrying just 12. The NBA requires teams to have a minimum of 14 players under contract (not counting two-ways), but clubs are permitted to dip below that minimum for two weeks at a time.

So even if those three clubs decide not to bring back the same players on 10-day contracts, they’ll have to add a player (two players in Brooklyn’s case, but one will be Blake Griffin) at some point during the next couple weeks.

The Jazz are also in this boat, but will have to add a player even sooner. They dipped to 13 players on standard contracts when they waived Shaquille Harrison on February 24, so we can probably expect them to sign a player to a 10-day deal before the second-half schedule gets underway this week.

The Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Rockets, Clippers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Suns, Trail Blazers, Kings, Spurs, and Raptors also have openings on their 15-man rosters, but aren’t under any pressure to fill them in the near future, since they’re all at the 14-player minimum.

Most teams with open roster spots will fill them before the end of the regular season, but for the time being, it makes sense for those teams to either hold them open or fill them with players on 10-day deals in order to maximize their roster flexibility for the March 25 trade deadline.