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Jazz Meet With Raul Neto

July 3rd, 2018 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz, who have reached an agreement with Derrick Favors and are hoping to re-sign a couple other key free agents, met with point guard Raul Neto on Monday, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). Utah has expressed interest in bringing back RFA point guards Neto and Dante Exum.

With Favors returning, Thabo Sefolosha‘s salary guaranteed for 2018/19, and Grayson Allen now locked up to his rookie contract, the Jazz have 10 players on guaranteed deals so far for next season. If the club intends to keep its remaining three non-guaranteed players – Ekpe Udoh, Jonas Jerebko, and Royce O’Neale – that would leave just two open roster spots for Exum and Neto. I would guess that with Favors back, Udoh isn’t a lock to be retained, but we’ll see what the Jazz have in mind in the coming days.

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Jazz Sign First-Round Pick Grayson Allen

July 2nd, 2018 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Grayson Allen has signed his rookie contract with the Jazz, the team tweets.

The 6’6” Duke star was the 21st pick of the draft. Allen will receive approximately $2.07MM in the first year of the deal.

Allen averaged 15.5 PPG and 4.7 APG in his senior year and made 38% of his 3-point attempts during his college career.

Primarily a shooting guard, he will compete for minutes at both guard spots behind Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell and perhaps get some playing time at small forward in smaller lineups.

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Free Agent Rumors: Crawford, Ellington, Bjelica, Williams

July 2nd, 2018 at 5:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers are interested in veteran free agent guard Jamal Crawford, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Crawford could fortify a bench that has lost Ersan Ilyasovaand Marco Belinelli since the start of free agency. Crawford, 38, averaged 10.3 PPG in 20.7 MPG for the Timberwolves last season. The Pelicans, Cavaliers, Warriors and Nuggets are also reportedly in the mix for Crawford, who opted out of his contract with Minnesota and left $4.54MM on the table.

In other news regarding the free agent market:

  • Unrestricted free agent shooting guard Wayne Ellington has drawn significant interest but he’s viewed as a good bet to re-sign with the Heat, Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports tweets. Miami has a cap hold of $8.15MM on Ellington, who appeared in 77 games and averaged 11.2 PPG in 26.5 MPG while shooting 39.2% from long range.
  • The Jazz have a strong interest in Nemanja Bjelica, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. The Timberwolves pulled their qualifying offer to the power forward in order to sign Anthony Tolliver, thus making Bjelica an unrestricted free agent.
  • The Knicks are interested in Alan Williams if he clears waivers, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Suns waived the power forward/center on Monday. The Knicks have also reached out to free agent power forwards Amir Johnson and Trevor Booker, Berman adds.
  • Williams hasn’t ruled out a return to the Suns but his agent has already heard from a handful of teams interested in his services, according to Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic. Williams, who appeared in only five games last season due to a knee injury, had a non-guaranteed salary of $5.5MM for next season and will likely get through waivers.
  • The Lakers have renounced their free-agent exception rights to guard Andre Ingram and power forward Travis Wear, according to the RealGM transactions log. The Lakers had a cap hold of $1.338MM on Ingram and $1.5MM on Wear. Ingram appeared in two games with Los Angeles last season, while Wear saw action in 17 games.
  • The Suns renounced their free-agent exception rights to center Alex Len, according to the RealGM transaction log. The Suns had a $7.96MM cap hold on Len. He appeared in 69 games last season but became expendable when they drafted Deandre Ayton.
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Free Agent Rumors: Favors, Ellington, Tolliver

July 2nd, 2018 at 12:01am CST by Austin Kent

The Jazz have already met with free agent big man Derrick Favors, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Favors met with club general manager Dennis Lindsey and head coach Quin Snyder for three hours today to discuss his future.

Marc Spears of The Undefeated, also reporting on the meeting, tweets that the forward is expected to make a decision on Monday. Favors – like the Jazz in general – enjoyed a pleasant surprise of a 2017/18 season and meshed with center Rudy Gobert in ways that he hadn’t previously.

That successful year has breathed new life into Favors’ future with the franchise that he’s played for since 2011. Favors averaged 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season, a notable improvement from the 9.5 and 6.1 he posted in 2016/17.

Both the Timberwolves and Mavs were previously linked to the 26-year-old.

There’s more from around the league tonight:

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Jazz Guarantee Thabo Sefolosha’s Contract For 2018/19

July 1st, 2018 at 10:23pm CST by Austin Kent

The Jazz have elected to not waive veteran forward Thabo Sefolosha, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets. The club could have cleared Sefolosha’s $5.2MM non-guaranteed salary had they released him prior to July 1, but it will now become guaranteed.

Sefolosha had an up-and-down first season in Utah after signing a two-year deal with the Jazz last summer. The 34-year-old was an effective part of the Jazz rotation in the fist half, averaging 8.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG with a .492/.381/.815 shooting line in 21.2 minutes per contest.

However, an MCL injury in his right knee ended Sefolosha’s season early, limiting him to just 38 games. Additionally, the NBA announced in April that Sefolosha would be suspended five games for violating the league’s anti-drug program. Since he couldn’t serve that ban will while he was injured, the 12-year veteran will miss the first five contests of the 2018/19 season.

Sefolosha was one of three notable Jazz veterans with non-guaranteed salaries for 2018/19. Utah will reportedly have to decide by July 9 whether to retain Jonas Jerebko ($4.2MM) and Ekpe Udoh ($3.36MM). Royce O’Neale and David Stockton also have non-guaranteed minimum salaries for next season.

With Sefolosha officially on the cap for 2018/19, the Jazz now have more than $80MM in guaranteed money on their books. Utah will likely remain an over-the-cap team, with cap holds for Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, and Raul Neto – along with the aforementioned non-guaranteed salaries – pushing them over the $101.87MM threshold.

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Free Agency Notes: George, MCW, Booker, Parker

July 1st, 2018 at 3:46pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Thunder and  Paul George agreed to a four-year deal worth $137MM at the start of free agency and according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the team will have the option to offer George an even bigger raise in two years.

Under the new CBA, the team can offer George an extension after the second anniversary of the deal, meaning PG13 can sign a four-year max deal in 2020 that locks him in for seven seasons. The total value of the potential seven-year pact would come in at an estimated $290MM based off of future salary cap projections.

The team’s ability to re-sign George was shocking to some, as many expected the 5-time All-Star to leave OKC for Los Angeles, a city he’s been linked to for quite some time. It’s possible that the team’s ability to offer the max extension at the halfway point of the four-year contract was part of George’s motivation to stick around, though that’s merely my speculation.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The Rockets will meet with Michael Carter-Williams, league sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). While Houston appears to be looking into ancillary parts for its team, the franchise hasn’t given up hope on pursuing LeBron James.
  • The Jazz and Pelicans have both expressed interest in Trevor Booker, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype reports (Twitter link). The Wolves, Rockets, Knicks, and Spurs also have an eye on the big man.
  • The Bulls have interest in Jabari Parker, Kennedy tweets. Chicago is one of several teams expected to pursue the former No. 2 overall pick.
  • The Wolves are looking to sign Dante Cunningham, sources tell Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Minnesota has eyes for a bevy of veteran free agents to fill it’s five open roster spots.
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West FA Rumors: A. Johnson, Looney, Exum

July 1st, 2018 at 1:13am CST by Austin Kent

At least three Western Conference teams are said to have already contacted veteran big man Amir Johnson mere hours into free agency. Per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News the Timberwolves have been in touch, while Sean Deveney of The Sporting News adds that the Clippers and Lakers have too.

This time last season, Johnson inked a one-year, $11MM deal to serve as a reliable, veteran presence in the middle for the Sixers and it stands to reason that any of the teams kicking the tires on him this time around would be interested in a similar addition.

Johnson averaged 4.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for Philly in 2017/18 but served as a defensive force in the paint and a low maintenance spot starter in games that Joel Embiid sat out.

There are more free agency rumors from around the Western Conference:

  • The Warriors have already made contact with Kevon Looney about bringing him back to the Bay Area, Mark Medina of The Mercury News writes, but the forward is said to be fielding interest from other teams as well. Golden State elected not to guarantee the fourth year of his rookie deal when they had the chance to do so last fall.
  • The Jazz are making restricted free agent Dante Exum a priority, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets, and already have a meeting set up to discuss a new deal.
  • Pending restricted free agent Montrezl Harrell has changed representation, Liz Mullen of The Sports Business Journal tweets. Now the Clippers big man will be represented by Bobby Petriella of Rosenhaus Sports. He was previously represented by Klutch Sports Group.
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Derrick Favors Sets Meeting With Jazz

June 30th, 2018 at 7:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

Representatives of the Jazz will meet with free agent big man Derrick Favors Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, writes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Both sides are confident that Favors will return to Utah, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. He cites the Suns as a team that might take a chance on Favors, but adds that Phoenix needs a point guard and is in the market for Toronto’s Fred VanVleet.
Favors, 26, has been in Utah since arriving in a 2011 trade. He averaged 15.8 points and 9.2 rebounds in 77 games this season and played particularly well when starting center Rudy Gobert was sidelined by injuries.
The Jazz have said they will place a priority on keeping Favors, along with restricted free agents Dante Exum and Raul Neto. They must also decide by Sunday whether to guarantee a $5.25MM contract for Thabo Sefolosha, with Jones stating that Sefolosha’s camp is confident they will.
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Jabari Parker Likely To Leave Bucks?

June 30th, 2018 at 1:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Kings are just one of the teams expected to make a run at Jabari Parker, and some executives within the league view the former No. 2 overall pick to be among the small tier of players below stars such as LeBron James and Paul George.

“Hey, he’s a good player; I mean he’s a really good player,’’ an NBA executive told Gary Woelfel (via Woelfel’s Press Box). “And he’s young.’’

Parker is a restricted free agent, meaning the Bucks can match any rival offer he receives. One longtime NBA executive expects the 23-year-old to see a rather lucrative deal.

“I think some teams will give him $20MM [per season] and there might be some teams that will make it tough on Milwaukee to match and offer him even more,’’ the NBA official tells Woelfel.

“I think Milwaukee would like to keep him for $16MM or something around that figure, trying to use his injury situation to their advantage. But there are teams that need a big-time scorer and nobody doubts he’s a big-time scorer.’’

Another NBA executive speculated that the Sixers could make an offer for Parker should they fail to land a bigger target like James, George or Kawhi Leonard. Woelfel names the Bulls, Jazz, Pacers, Hawks, Suns, and Nets as possibilities as well.

Other NBA executives who spoke with Woelfel believe a sign-and-trade is a more likely scenario for the combo forward. That route would be Milwaukee’s preference rather than being forced to decide between signing Parker to a player-friendly contract or losing him for nothing. “It’s no secret” that the Bucks would be open to receiving an upgrade at point guard or center in such an agreement, Woelfel adds.

The Rockets and Clippers are both high on Parker and could be possibilities if a sign-and-trade were to occur, though it would be hard for Houston to complete a deal and stay under the tax apron if the team retains its own key free agents. Los Angeles and Milwaukee had discussions about Parker at last year’s trade deadline.

Parker likes Milwaukee and he reportedly paid around $1.5MM to redo the warehouse he currently lives in, according to Woelfel’s sources. Those same sources tell the scribe that despite Parker being comfortable in his current situation, it’s more likely he leaves then stays.

“He loves the people there; he loves the city,” the source said. “But I don’t see him staying there. If you’re asking me, it’s 75-25 he goes to another team.’’

Many dominos, such as James coming out of his decision cave, are likely to fall before Parker inks his next contract with a source estimating that a deal won’t take place until late-July or early-August.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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Sefolosha Continues On Road To Recovery

June 30th, 2018 at 11:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

Jazz forward Thabo Sefolosha should be fully cleared for basketball activities within six weeks, Tony Jones of the The Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Sefolosha underwent season-ending right knee surgery after appearing in 38 games. His status with the franchise remains cloudy. Sefolosha’s $5.25MM salary for next season becomes guaranteed if he’s still on the roster on Sunday.

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