Utah Jazz Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz Notes: Bradley, Oni, Brantley, Wright-Foreman

July 24th, 2019 at 11:55am CST by Arthur Hill

Jazz center Tony Bradley may have saved his NBA career with his Summer League performance, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. It’s unusual for a first-round pick to still be playing Summer League games going into his third season, but Bradley has done little to establish himself as an NBA player so far. After being taken with the 28th pick in 2017, he has appeared in just 12 games, with only three of those coming last season.

Bradley said he was aware of the stakes heading into Las Vegas, and he responded by leading the league in rebounding with 11.3 per game. He also averaged 19.7 PPG and shot 56% from the field. He appears to have won a roster spot and is expected to be third on the depth chart at center behind Rudy Gobert and Ed Davis.

“It was important for me,” Bradley said of the experience. “I knew that I had to go out there and play well.”

There’s more from Utah, all courtesy of Jones:

Versatility was the key to Miye Oni earning a fully guaranteed contract as a rookie. The Jazz consider him to be the best defender among their three draft picks, and his ability to play several positions gives him another advantage. However, rookie power forward Jarrell Brantley will probably need more time to develop. Jones states that he took bad shots and made bad decisions during Summer League and has a lot to learn before he’s ready for the NBA.
The Jazz want two-way player Justin Wright-Foreman to develop into a point guard. He was a high-scoring combo guard at Hofstra, but he will be asked to focus on one position during his time in the G League. He also needs to show some improvement on defense, but Jones adds that he has the talent to improve in that area.
The organization has two years to experiment with the roster before it becomes financially restrictive. Gobert and Donovan Mitchell will both be eligible for new contracts in the summer of 2021, and decisions will have to be made on Mike Conley, Dante Exum and Joe Ingles as well. That’s why they used three second-round picks this summer and gambled on William Howard and Stanton Kidd, hoping to find some future contributors while they still have flexibility.

Northwest Notes: Wiggins, Coaching Additions, Bradley

July 23rd, 2019 at 8:19pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman makes a case for the Thunder to trade Chris Paul to the Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins. Paul would elevate the team’s immediate ceiling in Minnesota, providing Karl-Anthony Towns with arguably the best point guard he’s played with at the professional level.

Tramel believes OKC may provide Wiggins with an environment that would allow him to improve. Wiggins has played under four head coaches in Minnesota and the organization doesn’t have the recent track record for developing players that OKC does.

Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

The Thunder have named David Akinyooye, Dave Bliss, Mark Daigneault, Brian Keefe, and Mike Wilks as assistant coaches, the team announces on its website. The group will join head coach Billy Donovan and assistant coaches Maurice Cheeks and Vin Bhavnani on the bench.
The Timberwolves are close to adding Pelicans assistant Kevin Hanson to their coaching staff, as Chris Hine of the Star Tribune reports. Hanson spent the past four seasons in New Orleans.
Tony Bradley, who was selected in the 2017 draft, had a Summer League that saved his roster spot on the Jazz, Tony Jones of The Athletic explains. Third-year first-rounders don’t typically play in the Summer League and the front office told the center that it wanted to see him be the best player on the team. Bradley shined and will be the third center behind Rudy Gobert and Ed Davis.

Stanton Kidd, William Howard Contract Details

July 21st, 2019 at 2:31pm CST by clarkcrum

More contract details continue to trickle in as the 2019 free agency period winds to a close. Below are some additional reports regarding signings for the Jazz, Magic, Thunder, and Wizards:

According to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, the Jazz gave Stanton Kidd a $250K guarantee on his 2019/20 salary. The guarantee for William Howard is only $50K, but jumps to $250K if he remains on the roster through the first game of the regular season.

Jazz Sign Emmanuel Mudiay

July 20th, 2019 at 8:30am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 20, 8:30am: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 2, 7:53pm: Free agent point guard Emmanuel Mudiay has agreed to sign a one-year deal with the Jazz, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

While terms of the deal weren’t mentioned, it figures to be a minimum-salary pact. Utah is using its cap room to take on Mike Conley, and has committed its room exception to Ed Davis.

Mudiay, a former seventh overall pick, enjoyed the most productive year of his NBA career in 2018/19 for the Knicks, averaging 14.8 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 3.3 RPG on .446/.329/.774 shooting in 59 games (27.2 MPG). He was eligible for a qualifying offer, but New York opted not to extend one, making him an unrestricted free agent.

While Mudiay hasn’t lived up to his pre-draft hype during his four NBA seasons, he’s still just 23 years. The Jazz want to help him develop, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links), who adds that Utah’s strong developmental program also appealed to Mudiay’s camp.

With Raul Neto hitting waivers as a cap casualty, Mudiay projects to come off the bench along with Dante Exum as Conley’s backups at the point.

Jazz Sign Jeff Green To One-Year Deal

July 20th, 2019 at 8:09am CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 20, 8:09am: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 2, 6:10pm: The Jazz will sign Jeff Green to a one-year deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Green will make $2.5MM, the minimum for a player of his experience level.

Green played last season for the Wizards. He had said he would “love to come back” to Washington but the franchise added wings/forwards in the draft, which complicated matters. The 32-year-old was speculated to be a target of the Lakers, given his previous success playing alongside LeBron James.

Utah needed replacements for both Derrick Favors (sent to the Pelicans) and Jae Crowder (dealt to the Grizzlies). Green will help replenish the team’s depth. Utah came to agreements with Bojan Bogdanovic and Ed Davis to help stabilize the frontcourt.

Ed Davis Signs Two-Year Deal With Jazz

July 20th, 2019 at 8:03am CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 20, 8:03am: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JUNE 30, 9:20pm: The Jazz have agreed to sign big man Ed Davis to a two-year deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com passes along via Twitter. Davis will make $10MM over the next two seasons.

Utah will use the room exception to sign Davis, which is the same type of deal the big man inked last summer in Brooklyn. Davis was our Room Exception MVP, as I broke down in our contract awards.

Davis had previously stated that the financials would likely dictate his destination in free agency. “First is the money…Then, two is fit,” Davis said last month.

The Jazz agreed to a contract with Bojan Bogdanovic earlier in the day, reaching a four-year, $73MM deal with the wing. The team is expected to either trade or waive Derrick Favors in order to accommodate the signing. Davis will help Utah fortify its big man rotation.

Jazz Sign Nigel Williams-Goss

July 19th, 2019 at 11:27am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 19: The Jazz have officially signed Williams-Goss, per NBA.com’s transactions log. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), the three-year deal is worth $4.8MM, with a fully guaranteed first season.

A minimum-salary contract for Williams-Goss would only be worth about $4.2MM, so it sounds as if Utah used its remaining cap room to give him a larger first-year salary.

JULY 13: The Jazz are signing Nigel Williams-Goss to a three-year contract, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic (hat tip to EuroHoops.net).

Utah selected the former Gonzaga star in the second round of the 2017 draft and retained his rights. He drew interest from two other teams who wanted to acquired him via trade, but the Jazz chose to retain him and add him to their roster (Twitter links here).

Williams-Goss played in Europe last season for Olympiacos in Greece. He averaged 11.3 PPG and 4.6 APG in 25.0 MPG in 23 games.

The 6’3” Williams-Goss, 24, spent the previous season with Serbian club Partizan.

He joins a crowded backcourt that includes point men Mike Conley, Dante Exum and Emmanuel Mudiay.

Details On Utah's Cap Machinations, Latest Signings

July 18th, 2019 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After trading away Derrick Favors and signing Bojan Bogdanovic, the Jazz had a little leftover cap room and took advantage of that remaining space by signing Miye Oni, William Howard, and Stanton Kidd to three-year contracts, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Utah would have been limited to two-year deals if the club had exhausted its cap space.

The Jazz intend to have Howard, Kidd, and others compete for the 15th and final roster spot in training camp, per Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links), who notes that both Howard and Kidd received partial guarantees for the 2019/20 season.

Jazz Sign William Howard

July 17th, 2019 at 5:15pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 17: The signing is now official, according to a release from the team.

JULY 15: French forward William Howard, who was on Utah’s roster for Summer League play this month, has reached a verbal agreement to sign with the Jazz, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As Jones details, the deal has not yet been made official because there’s a small buyout issue to be sorted out. Howard technically remains under contract with Limoges, but Crawford Palmer – the sports director of the French club – confirmed that all involved parties are looking to free up Howard to join the Jazz. As Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays, Utah is expected to pay a buyout worth 150K Euros.

Howard, 25, averaged 10.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 16 EuroCup contests in 2018/19. Although he was part of Utah’s Summer League team, he didn’t actually play in any games, having been ruled out of the team’s final matchup on Saturday due to right groin soreness.

Still, as Jones details, the Jazz like Howard’s shooting ability and wanted to add more depth on the wing.

Details of Howard’s new contract with the Jazz aren’t yet known.

Jazz Sign Stanton Kidd

July 17th, 2019 at 5:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

After spending Summer League with the Jazz, combo forward Stanton Kidd has signed with the team, according to a release tweeted by Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News.

Utah was interested in adding Kidd last summer, but he had another year left on his contract with Turkish team Darussafaka and no escape clause to let him join the NBA. He averaged 7.9 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 50 EuroLeague and Turkish League games this season.

Now 27, Kidd played for the Jazz entry in two leagues this summer, averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in three games in Salt Lake City and posting an 8.2/2.6/1.4 line in five games in Las Vegas.

The Jazz have been in the market for wing depth and like the defense and athleticism that Kidd brings, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Utah also finalized a deal today with William Howard.