Free agent guard Johnny Juzang has reached an agreement with the Timberwolves and will sign a one-year contract with the team, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
While Charania doesn’t provide any further details on the deal, it’s safe to assume it’s a minimum-salary contract, and Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link) reports that it won’t be guaranteed. Juzang will get the chance in camp to compete for a spot on the 15-man roster or a two-way deal., Hine adds.
Juzang, 24, caught on with Utah after going undrafted out of UCLA in 2022 and has spent the past three seasons with the Jazz — two on two-way deals, then last season on a standard contract. He actually signed a four-year deal with Utah last August, but only the first season was guaranteed, so he was waived in June before his $2.84MM salary for 2025/26 was locked in.
Juzang made just 38 total appearances during his first two NBA seasons, but earned a rotation role in ’24/25, averaging 19.8 minutes per night across 64 outings. He put up 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, with a respectable .429/.376/.849 shooting line. However, the Jazz were the NBA’s worst defensive team and Juzang did little to help matters on that end — his 120.3 defensive rating was the second-worst among players who logged at least 500 minutes for Utah.
The Timberwolves entered the day with 13 players on standard guaranteed contracts and a pair of players on two-way deals, so they’ll have 16 players on their offseason roster once they’ve officially signed Juzang. They also still have a two-way qualifying offer on the table for Tristen Newton.
Seems like the Wolves are doing everything they can to not add anyone to help Antman handle the ball. The WCF’s showed how badly they need ballhandlers and yet they have done nothing at all to address this.
Dillingham didn’t play at all last year and he’s the best ball handler on the team. I’d bet they are going to rely on him this year. But I agree, another ball handler never hurts on a team with so few.
The Timberwolves add Johnny Juzang over Emoni Bates 😭🤣
Um, yeah… Juzang plays a different position, is a better player in virtually every statistical category, and therefore has also been more trusted by coaches to earn minutes than Bates. So yeah, they added Juzang over Bates. Not a real headscratcher there. Now Luapnor has a point about the need for another ballhandler, but they still have space to add one behind Dillingham.
Bates was good a loooong time ago. No so much in the NBA.