The Jazz have claimed forward Malcolm Thomas off waivers reports Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Thomas was waived by the Spurs two days ago. Since the Spurs waived him after his contract was guaranteed for the season, by claiming Thomas off waivers the Jazz will take over responsibility for paying the remainder of his minimum-salary contract.
Thomas appeared in only one game for the Spurs this season but did play 10 games for their D-League affiliate. During his time with the Austin Toros he averaged 15.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per contest. Over his three year span in the league, Thomas has appeared in only 16 games, averaging 1.1 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 0.3 BPG.
The motivation behind this move puzzles the Deseret News’ Jazz beat writer Jody Genessy but Wojnarowski claims Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey “has long been intrigued with Thomas.”
Prior to claiming Thomas, the Jazz had 14 players on their roster. Being one shy of the NBA roster limit, there is no need for the Jazz to make a concurrent roster cut.