Utah Jazz Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Juzang, Vanderbilt, Thunder, KCP

July 18th, 2022 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Two-way player Johnny Juzang could be another developmental success story for the Jazz, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes.

Juzang, one of UCLA’s stars during the Final Four run in 2021, should get more of an opportunity than most undrafted rookies with Utah apparently shifting to rebuild mode. There are questions about Juzang’s defensive ability, but he proved to be a steady offensive threat in college. He struggled in Summer League action, shooting 26.1% from the field.

“I feel like I see the floor pretty well right now but I want to continue to become even more of a playmaker,” Juzang said. “I’m also focused on playing on and off the ball. It will all come with time.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Forward Jarred Vanderbilt, one of the players acquired from the Timberwolves in the Rudy Gobert deal, should be a defensive asset for the Jazz. He recognizes that he can be even more of a force if he develops his offensive game, according to Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune. Vanderbilt started 67 regular season games for Minnesota last season but only averaged 6.9 PPG in 25.4 MPG. “Finishing around the rim, touch; working on my shooting, trying to expand my range; working on ball-handling and counter-moves,” Vanderbilt said of what he needs to work on the most. “I’m still young in my career, where I have a lot of opportunity to still grow and expand my game as well. I’m sticking to the foundation that got me here, but building off that.”
What did the Thunder learn about No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren and the rest of their squad at the Vegas Summer League? Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman breaks down their performances.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s two-year extension with the Nuggets is worth $14.7MM in 2023/24, with a $15.44MM player option for ’24/25, Hoops Rumors has learned. The deal comes in at approximately $30.15MM in total.
In case you missed it, Kenrich Williams agreed to a four-year extension with the Thunder. Get all the details here.

Lakers Rumors: Irving, Trade Targets, Westbrook

July 18th, 2022 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

It remains to be seen whether or not the Lakers will be able to work out a trade with the Nets for Kyrie Irving, but Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN believes L.A. has at least one more major roster move up its sleeve this offseason, as he stated on Monday during the network’s latest episode of Get Up (video link).

“I think the Lakers will make a deal. Maybe more than one deal,” Wojnarowski said. “It may not be for Kyrie Irving, it may not be for an All-NBA player, an All-Star. But players like Eric Gordon in Houston, Buddy Hield in Indiana, players like Patrick Beverley, who came to the Jazz in a trade from Minnesota, who are role players are winning teams. What is the price for those kind of moves? I think they’re going to continue to be active on all those things.”

As Wojnarowski explains, the Lakers aren’t eager to part with all of their most valuable trade assets for modest short-term upgrades, but they still feel the need to add more talent to the roster to take advantage of LeBron James‘ remaining prime years.

“When LeBron’s putting pressure on the front office, on the organization, teams are asking for a lot to do a deal with the Lakers,” Wojnarowski said. “Rob Pelinka‘s trying to keep from trading the 2027, 2029 unprotected first-round picks that obviously LeBron James doesn’t value greatly because he may not be around. He wants to win now. That’s the balance of being in the front office vs. having to serve the fact that you’ve got LeBron James still playing at an incredibly high level at an age we’ve never seen a player play at that level.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

A potential trade sending Irving to the Lakers is “not completely dead,” per Wojnarowski, but such a deal still hinges in large part on what the Nets do with Kevin Durant. “The Nets are more focused on trying to find a deal for KD before they would even move Kyrie Irving,” Woj said. “I think there’s a good chance that Kyrie Irving is back in Brooklyn to start the season if Kevin Durant is back in Brooklyn.”
Russell Westbrook‘s public split with his longtime agent doesn’t bode well for the former MVP’s relationship with the Lakers, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who says that dynamic between Westbrook and the team is becoming “more untenable with each passing week.” League sources tell Buha that the divorce between Westbrook and agent Thad Foucher caught several people around the Lakers by surprise.
Foucher’s statement, which hinted that Westbrook is seeking another change of scenery, may further hurt the Lakers’ leverage in trade talks, Buha writes. Multiple league sources tell The Athletic that potential trade partners are already asking for at least L.A.’s 2027 or 2029 first-round pick in order to take on Westbrook’s pricey expiring contract.
Marc Stein says in his latest Substack article that the Knicks and Jazz are viewed by some people around the league as possible landing spots for Westbrook if the two teams complete a Donovan Mitchell trade. Stein explains that the Knicks may be more inclined to trade away Julius Randle and his long-term contract for a big expiring deal like Westbrook’s in that scenario, though it strikes me as a long shot that New York and L.A. would be able to find a mutually beneficial swap involving those two players.

Jazz In No Rush To Move Mitchell, Expected To Reengage With Knicks

July 18th, 2022 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

After engaging in trade talks with the Knicks about Donovan Mitchell last week, the Jazz aren’t in any rush to make a deal before further gauging his value around the NBA, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on Monday during an appearance on Get Up (video link).

“I think for the Jazz, they go out now around the league and see what else is out there for Donovan Mitchell, get a sense of what the market is, what teams are willing to do,” Wojnarowski said. “And I do think the Knicks and the Jazz will reengage at some point. Maybe it’s this week, maybe it’s next week, maybe it’s in two or three weeks. But the Jazz are not going to necessarily move quickly.”

As Wojnarowski observes, Utah’s Rudy Gobert trade discussions played out over multiple weeks – or even months – before the Jazz received an offer they couldn’t refuse from Minnesota. Although the Knicks are motivated to land Mitchell, according to Woj, they also don’t want to “just give up everything” to land him.

“Utah and New York talked last week, and I think the Jazz got a sense of what New York might be willing to do,” Wojnarowski said. “It’s not just one particular deal — I think there’s options. It’s almost like a sliding scale. The more players you put in a deal, the less draft picks you want to give up. The more draft assets you put in a deal, you want to put less players in. If you’re the Jazz, ‘I want the players and I want the picks,’ so that’s where it starts.”

Here’s more on Mitchell:

Wojnarowski said during his Get Up appearance that the Jazz are significantly more interested in the Knicks’ own first-round picks than the ones New York can offer from other teams. “People talk about (the Knicks being able to trade) seven or eight (first-round) picks. A lot of those picks are conditional, protected picks that are coming from places like Detroit and Washington,” Wojnarowski said. “The Jazz certainly don’t value those the way they do New York’s unprotected picks.”
During early discussions between the Jazz and Knicks, Utah asked about a package that would’ve included RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, other players, and at least three first-round picks, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Robinson has since come off the table after officially re-signing with New York, but it’s a moot point — the Knicks felt Utah’s asking price was too high and wouldn’t have met it anyway, Begley writes, adding that he believes the Knicks have the draft capital necessary to get a Mitchell deal done without including Barrett.
Some members of the Knicks’ organization still felt the Jazz’s asking price was too high during the more recent talks between two teams, Begley writes. Those Knicks executives felt as if they had made competitive offers and wanted to leave it at that, rather than continuing to sweeten the pot for Utah.

Latest On Donovan Mitchell

July 17th, 2022 at 10:58am CST by Arthur Hill

When the Suns matched the Pacers’ offer sheet for Deandre Ayton on Thursday, the move increased the chances that Donovan Mitchell will wind up with the Knicks, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (hat tip to Adam Zagoria in a piece for NJ.com).

Windhorst explained that there were scenarios in place where Mitchell could have gone to the Nets and Kevin Durant could have ended up in Phoenix in a three- or four-team trade. Now that Ayton is ineligible to be moved until January 15, those potential deals are off the table.

“So I think this moves the Knicks even further into the favorite spot for Donovan Mitchell,” Windhorst said. “It’s really going to come down to negotiation. The Knicks are very interested, they are talking to the Jazz, but the Jazz have an extremely high bar that they’re setting early in these talks and it’s really just a question of how much can they get the Knicks to pay.”

A report on Friday set that price at three young players and six first-round picks. New York countered that offer and no progress in trade talks has been reported since then.

There’s more news on a potential Mitchell deal:

Tim MacMahon of ESPN believes Mitchell will likely end up in New York, but negotiations might take some time, Zagoria relays in the same story. MacMahon points out that Utah is focused on getting draft assets to help with rebuilding, and the Knicks own 11 first-rounders in the next seven years. He adds that team president Leon Rose has to be careful not to bid against himself as the teams work out the specifics of a trade.
Mitchell heard plenty of appeals from Knicks fans during an appearance Saturday at a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Mitchell threw out the first pitch and took batting practice with the minor league team, but refused to speculate on trade talks. “We’re not talking basketball,” he told reporters. “Ain’t nobody talking basketball.”
In a separate story, Braziller talks to an NBA scout who believes the price for Mitchell is too high considering that he’s never led the Jazz past the second round of the playoffs. Another league source agrees, questioning whether Mitchell is too similar to free agent addition Jalen Brunson to form an effective backcourt.
Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News examines options for getting Mitchell to New York, including a package based on draft picks, another one built around RJ Barrett, and potential multi-team deals.

Jazz To Hire Jason Terry As Assistant Coach

July 16th, 2022 at 4:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former NBA player Jason Terry is finalizing a deal to join Will Hardy‘s coaching staff with the Jazz, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Terry turned to coaching after his 19-year playing career ended in 2018. He spent one year as an assistant at the University of Arizona, then took over as head coach of the G League’s Grand Rapids Gold before the start of this season.

Terry interviewed for the head coaching job in Utah shortly after Quin Snyder’s departure in June. He was among at least 15 potential candidates who were linked to the position before the team selected Hardy.

Although there’s no definite word on Hardy’s other assistants, there have been reports that Bryan Bailey, Irv Roland, Alex Jensen and Lamar Skeeter could all be retained.

Latest On Donovan Mitchell

July 16th, 2022 at 9:30am CST by Dana Gauruder

A potential Donovan Mitchell trade could be an “extended process” rather than an imminent event, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Today (video link).

Utah is “talking throughout the league,” but there are not everyday negotiations going on involving the All-Star guard, according to Wojnarowski, who says the Jazz have “time on their side” due to Mitchell being signed through the 2025/26 season (including a player option in the final year).

Utah exec Danny Ainge has a reputation of waiting teams out to get the best possible trade package. “I think it’s going to be the same thing with Donovan Mitchell,” Wojnarowski said, though he added that the Knicks are a “motivated suitor.”

We have more on the Mitchell trade front:

According to Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune, the notion that the Jazz were not open to offers for Mitchell prior to this week is a false narrative. They had discussed Mitchell trades before Rudy Gobert was dealt to the Timberwolves.
ESPN’s Insiders look at five potential Mitchell deals involving the Knicks, Heat, Raptors, Thunder and a four-way swap. Responding to ESPN’s proposed trades, Larsen tweets that the proposed packages from New York, Miami, Toronto, and Oklahoma City would all fall short of what the Jazz are seeking. ESPN’s hypothetical four-team deal involving Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, and Deandre Ayton might’ve appealed most to Utah, according to Larsen, but it’s no longer an option now that Ayton is back under contract with Phoenix.
With the Knicks apparently ready to give up a boatload of assets for Mitchell, Howie Kussoy of the New York Post looks at past deals for star players that failed to turn the fortunes of the franchise.
Dealing Mitchell would be the best thing for the Jazz, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News opines. After dealing Gobert, the Jazz would have to give up numerous assets in trades just to remain in the playoff picture if they retain Mitchell.
A group of ESPN analysts explored some potential trade packages for Mitchell on NBA Today (video link).

Stein’s Latest: Mitchell, Knicks, Sixers, Lakers, Beverley

July 15th, 2022 at 7:46pm CST by Rory Maher

New York’s impending pursuit of Jalen Brunson became obvious once a Knicks contingent led by Julius Randle, William Wesley and Allan Houston was spotted at Game 1 of the first-round series between the Mavericks and Jazz. However, as Marc Stein writes in his lastest article for Substack, it’s clear now that New York had designs on pursuing Donovan Mitchell as well as Brunson.

Recent reports from Tony Jones of The Athletic and Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune indicate that the Jazz are looking for six first-round picks and young players in exchange for Mitchell, but the Knicks balked at that asking price. According to Stein, even if the Knicks have more draft picks to offer at the moment, they should be “careful not to underestimate” the Heat and Nets as potential Mitchell suitors.

Under president Leon Rose, the Knicks have unsuccessfully pursued other star players, which is why it’s so important to the incumbent regime to land a player of Mitchell’s stature, Stein says.

Here’s more from Stein:

Mitchell has multiple ties to the Knicks, Stein adds. Mitchell is “very close” with Knicks assistant Johnnie Bryant, who was an assistant with the Jazz for several seasons and recently had multiple interviews for Utah’s head coaching job. He’s also friends with Brunson due to their shared connection with Eric Paschall, who is Mitchell’s closest friend in the NBA and was college teammates with Brunson at Villanova, per Stein.
Like the Knicks’ pursuit of Brunson, the Sixers are likely to face a tampering investigation due to the signing of P.J. Tucker, according to Stein, who reported four days before free agency opened that several rival teams were convinced that Tucker would land with Philadelphia. Stein and others had linked Tucker to the Sixers even before the draft, a week before free agency opened, and Stein notes that Tucker’s agent informed Shams Charania of The Athletic that he was heading to Philly a minute after free agency opened.
It has been rumored that the Lakers might be interested in Jazz guard Patrick Beverley, but a source tells Stein that L.A. has no plans to deal Talen Horton-Tucker for the veteran. The Lakers have been prioritizing speed and youth in the offseason, so swapping a 21-year-old for a 34-year-old would detract from that, Stein notes. Horton-Tucker had been floated as a possibility because the Lakers don’t have any other mid-size contracts for salary-matching purposes — he’ll make $10.26MM in 2022/23, while Beverley will earn $13MM.

Raptors Interested in Bojan Bogdanovic?

July 15th, 2022 at 3:37pm CST by Rory Maher

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon recently relayed on The Lowe Post podcast that the Raptors might be interested in Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic (hat tip to RealGM). “If the Jazz and Raptors do a trade, I think Bogdanovic would be the guy going to Toronto, not Donovan Mitchell,” said MacMahon. “Just saying.” “Spicy,” replied Zach Lowe. “I’ve heard rumblings there,” added MacMahon. “Nothing imminent or anything close to it. I think he’s a guy… the Raptors can certainly use a 6’8″ shooter like Bogdanovic. For the Jazz in a rebuild, they’re obviously trying to move him.” Bogdanovic holds a career three-point percentage of 39.2% and Toronto was 20th in the league in three-point shooting last season at 34.9%, so he could be a decent fit with the Raptors. The 33-year-old is on an expiring contract worth $19.5MM next season, so matching his salary might be a little difficult, assuming Toronto is interested.

Jazz Add Johnny Juzang Via Two-Way Deal

July 15th, 2022 at 2:05pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 15: The Jazz have officially signed Juzang, the team announced.

JUNE 24: The Jazz will sign undrafted former UCLA wing Johnny Juzang to a two-way deal, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Following a 2019/20 freshman season with Kentucky, Juzang transferred to his hometown UCLA. While with the Bruins, the 6’6″ swingman was named Second-Team All-Pac-12 in 2021 and First-Team All-Pac 12 in 2022. For his contributions to UCLA’s NCAA Final Four run in 2021, Juzang was honored as an NCAA All-Tourney selection. The 21-year-old was also voted onto the All-American Third-Team during what wound up being his final collegiate season.

During his junior season, Juzang averaged 15.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.8 APG and 0.7 SPG through 30 games, including 29 starts. He posted a slash line of .432/.360/.835.

Utah went without a pick in this year’s draft.

Celtics Notes: Gallinari, R. Williams, Horford, Mitchell

July 15th, 2022 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Danilo Gallinari‘s first exposure to the NBA came in the form of Larry Bird tapes that he watched while growing up in Italy, so it was an easy decision to join the Celtics in free agency, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. At age 33 and after 14 years in the league, Gallinari gets to live out his dream of playing for Bird’s former franchise.

“I think it’s something that is honestly gonna motivate me,” he said. “If I can do and achieve, team-wise, just a little bit of what he achieved in the past for the Celtics, it will be amazing.”

The Bulls would have given Gallinari more money, according to Weiss, but his affection for the Celtics prompted him to take their offer of $13.3MM over the next two seasons. Now that he’s officially in Boston, the forward wants to be part of bringing an 18th NBA championship to the city.

“You walk even in this facility, you look around and see what’s going on around the banners and the history and everything the Celtics were about, it was an easy choice,” Gallinari said.

There’s more from Boston:

Center Robert Williams isn’t showing any ill effects from playing in the postseason after undergoing meniscus surgery in March, a source tells Sean Deveney of Heavy. Williams dealt with frequent knee soreness and swelling, but he was still able to be on the court for 17 of Boston’s 24 games in its run to the NBA Finals. He hasn’t experienced any knee issues since then, according to Deveney’s source, and will resume training after a six-week rest period.
Al Horford is likely to see a reduction in playing time next season, Brian Robb of MassLive speculates in a mailbag column. He points out that Horford was fresher heading into this season because he was coming off a year in which he played just 28 games for Oklahoma City. The changes the Celtics have made so far this summer have created a deeper bench and provide more opportunity to rest Horford, particularly in back-to-backs.
The Celtics aren’t likely to get involved in Donovan Mitchell trade talks, Robb adds in a separate story, citing league sources, but he notes that there are other ways for Boston to benefit. Robb points to Jarred Vanderbilt as a low-cost option that the Jazz might make available.