Jazz Interested In Garrett Temple

4:52pm: The Wizards aren’t anxious to move Temple, and he wouldn’t come cheaply, Michael hears (Twitter links). GM Ernie Grunfeld and coach Randy Wittman are fans of the guard, Michael adds.

4:26pm: The Jazz have yet to contact the Wizards about Temple, a source told Michael for an updated version of his story.

MONDAY, 3:29pm: The Wizards would probably take back either no salary, allowing them to create a trade exception, or a player on a non-guaranteed contract that Washington would turn around and waive, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Undrafted shooting guard Dez Wells from the University of Maryland, who has offers for camp deals from five other teams but had ruled out the Wizards, would be open to signing with Washington if Temple’s roster spot opens, Michael hears.

FRIDAY, 12:10pm: The Wizards aren’t opposed to a trade involving Temple, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt hears (Twitter link).

THURSDAY, 4:22pm: In the wake of the heartbreaking news that second-year guard Dante Exum is likely to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign with a torn ACL, the Jazz are interested in acquiring Garrett Temple from the Wizards, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News reports (Twitter links). Utah coach Quin Snyder is familiar with Temple from when both were with the Spurs during the 2009/10 season, Genessy adds.

Temple, 29, had picked up his player option worth his minimum salary of nearly $1.101MM back in June in order to return to the Wizards. He made 52 appearances for Washington last season, including 18 starts, though much of his time was spent at shooting guard, as Basketball-Reference illustrates. In 2014/15, Temple averaged 3.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 14.2 minutes per game, and owned a slash line of .400/.375/.729.

It’s unclear if the Wizards would be willing to trade Temple, whose size (6’6″) and defensive abilities would help Utah compensate for the loss of Exum, Genessy adds (on Twitter). Utah currently has close to $7MM in cap room, and can open more than $10MM if they waive their players with non-guaranteed salaries, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes. The Jazz also possess draft-and-stash signee Raul Neto, as well as Bryce Cotton to back up likely starter Trey Burke.

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