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Jazz Insert Isaiah Collier At Point Guard

January 26th, 2025 at 7:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Jazz and head coach Will Hardy made a notable lineup change on Saturday, inserting rookie Isaiah Collier at point guard and benching Keyonte George. As Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune notes, George had started every game since the middle of his rookie campaign last year.

After a promising rookie year in which he earned All-Rookie Second Team honors, George has endured a sophomore slump. While his per-game stats have generally risen, the second-year guard hasn’t been able to elevate his teammates. Utah has won just 10 games after contending for a play-in spot last season.

George, the 16th pick of the 2023 draft, is averaging 16.2 points and 5.8 assists in 31.6 minutes per game but is shooting just 38.4% from the field. Collier, the 29th pick of last season’s draft, is more adept at pushing the pace and initiating the offense than George and has also played better on the defensive side.

However, Collier is more turnover prone (2.6 in 21.3 minutes per game) and has also struggled with his shooting (35.2% from the floor).

How long the switch lasts depends on the performance of Collier and the team’s fortunes with him as the floor leader. In his first start, he had eight points, eight assists and four turnovers in 33 minutes in a 22-point loss to Memphis. He also committed five fouls. He has started 10 games, as George missed 10 games due to ankle and heel injuries.

George played the same number of minutes as Collier and contributed eight points and seven assists but had a miserable shooting night, going 3-for-15 from the field.

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Jazz Notes: Tanking, Markkanen, Mills, Williams, Collins

January 23rd, 2025 at 7:26am CST by Luke Adams

Several Jazz players who have sat out recent games likely would’ve been playing more if the team were contending for a playoff spot, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune.

That group includes Lauri Markkanen, who missed four consecutive games due to back spasms, and John Collins, who was out for eight straight due to left hip injury management. Third-year center Walker Kessler sat out a game last week in a non-back-to-back situation due to “rest.”

As Larsen writes, the Jazz are in full-on tank mode, which is probably the right long-term move for the franchise, given the challenges of attracting free agents to Utah and the need to build through the draft. Still, Larsen isn’t in favor of the NBA system that incentivizes losing and sought out a pair of Jazz veterans to get their thoughts on tanking.

“I don’t think losing, or purposefully losing, should be part of professional sports,” said Markkanen, who signed a long-term extension with Utah in August. “I feel like athletes always want to compete. I understand why some organizations around the NBA are doing it, but I feel like it sucks, in my opinion. There should be a better way to build rosters. That’s the way it’s been, so I understand it, but that’s my opinion.”

Veteran guard Patty Mills conveyed a similar sentiment.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve always played for purpose. I play for purpose, that’s for sure. So when purpose isn’t there, it’s definitely hard,” Mills said. “It’s obviously a business, and everyone realizes when you get to this stage. There are situations that will happen that will remind you of that. At the end of the day — it’s a business call for sure — our job is to go out there and help develop, help teach, especially these young guys, how to be professionals.”

Here’s more on the Jazz, who fell to 10-32 with a loss in Oklahoma City on Wednesday:

  • Jazz rookie Cody Williams, who left Monday’s game vs. New Orleans due to what the team referred to as a left ankle sprain, was wearing a boot and was on crutches in the locker room after the game, according to Larsen, who suggests (via Twitter) the No. 10 overall pick may be facing a “decently long” absence. Williams wasn’t available for Wednesday’s game in OKC.
  • In a separate Salt Lake Tribune story, Larsen highlights Collins’ return from his eight-game injury absence, noting that the big man’s performance on Wednesday certainly didn’t hurt his trade value — Collins had 22 points and 12 rebounds vs. the Thunder and was a plus-12 in 26 minutes in a game Utah lost by nine points. Larsen also explores whether rumors linking Collins to the Kings make sense.
  • Appearing on the Jazz’s game broadcast on Wednesday, general manager Justin Zanik explained the thinking behind the team’s decision to trade three “least favorable” first-round picks in 2025 and 2027 and 2029 to the Suns in exchange for Phoenix’s unprotected 2031 first-rounder, as Larsen relays. “The way it makes sense for us is that we now have another shot at a pick that has a lot of variability. The three picks we traded have no chance to be the No. 1 pick, and this one does,” Zanik said. “It balances out what we want, but we’ve always talked about bites at the apple or more swings in the draft, but it also is about the quality of the swings, and this is, in my opinion, the most valuable asset on the market right now.”
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Why Draft-Pick Trade Makes Sense For Both Jazz, Suns

January 22nd, 2025 at 7:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz and Suns completed a fascinating trade on Tuesday, with Utah sending three first-round picks (in 2025, 2027, and 2029) to Phoenix in exchange for a single first-round pick in 2031.

The exact terms of the deal are as follows:

  • Jazz acquire the Suns’ 2031 first-round pick (unprotected).
  • Suns acquire either the Cavaliers’ or Timberwolves’ 2025 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable); either the Cavaliers’, Timberwolves’, or Jazz’s 2027 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable); and either the Cavaliers’, Timberwolves’, or Jazz’s 2029 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
    • Note: The Timberwolves’ 2029 pick is top-five protected.

Our readers who have commented on our story on the deal have argued in favor of both the Suns’ and Jazz’s sides, while some have wondered about the logic of trading three first-rounders for a single far-off pick.

Given the assets that both teams held, it’s the sort of swap that makes perfect sense for both sides. Here’s why:

Why the trade makes sense for the Jazz:

As a result of their trades sending Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland and Rudy Gobert to Minnesota, the Jazz controlled Cleveland’s and Minnesota’s unprotected first-round picks in 2025 and 2027, along with Cleveland’s unprotected 2029 pick and Minnesota’s top-five protected ’29 selection.

That means, along with their own pick, the Jazz would have three first-round picks in each of those drafts. That’s essentially the same situation Utah has been in for each of the last two drafts — the club controlled three of the top 28 picks in 2023 and three of the top 32 in 2024 and used all of them to bring in rookies. It has proven to be a challenge to get all those youngsters acclimated at once, so it makes sense that the Jazz would want to avoid repeating that situation over and over again in the coming years.

By trading the least favorable of their 2025, 2027, and 2029 first-round selections, the Jazz will consolidate the least valuable of those picks while still leaving themselves with multiple first-rounders in each draft.

And now they have an intriguing new unprotected 2031 first-rounder, which has significant value due to the nature of the Suns’ roster construction. While Devin Booker figures to be a star in Phoenix for years to come, Kevin Durant turns 37 this year — he certainly won’t still be a Sun by 2031. And if Phoenix trades for Jimmy Butler, the club will be adding a player who turns 36 later this year (even if Bradley Beal remains a Sun for now, it’s unlikely he’ll still be on the roster by 2031).

Suns owner Mat Ishbia has shown he’s willing to spend big, but that doesn’t always translate to winning. This year’s Suns team has the highest payroll in the NBA and is still on the verge of falling out of the play-in picture — they’re tied for the No. 10 seed at 21-21. So there’s certainly no guarantee that, with few valuable draft assets left in their coffers and little flexibility to upgrade their roster, the Suns will be a playoff-caliber team in 2031. The Jazz are certainly betting against it.

Could this bet backfire on Utah? Sure. Maybe the Cavs and Timberwolves both fall apart in the coming years and Utah’s rebuild doesn’t progress as planned, resulting in all three teams missing the playoffs in 2029 and the Jazz sending Phoenix a lottery pick. But given the building blocks the Cavs and Timberwolves have in place, that’s highly unlikely, and even in that scenario, Utah would still control two lottery picks (unless Minnesota’s ’29 first-rounder is in the top five, which is a long shot).

Maybe the Suns figure out a way to maintain a sustainable contender and their 2031 pick ends up in the 20s. But even if that happens, it probably won’t become obvious for several more years, given how quickly teams’ fortunes can change in the NBA. And in the meantime, that unprotected pick will have tremendous value on the trade market if Utah wants to flip it in another deal.

There’s certainly some risk involved, but given how many draft assets they already possessed, it makes sense for the Jazz to surrender their three least valuable first-rounders to roll the dice on the chances that Phoenix’s 2031 pick could land in the top five.

Why the trade makes sense for the Suns:

Given how valuable that unprotected 2031 Suns first-rounder could be, along with the likelihood that the three picks they’re acquiring will end up in the 20s (or even at No. 30, if the Cavs finish the 2024/25 season with the league’s best record), what’s the thinking for Phoenix here?

Well, this Suns front office remains fully focused on upgrading the team in the short term and turning a single first-round pick into three first-rounders will help them do that.

Take Phoenix’s pursuit of Butler, for instance. In a multi-team scenario in which the Suns send Beal to a third team and acquire Butler from Miami, both the Heat and that third team will need to be incentivized. With just one tradable first-round pick in 2031 to offer, the Suns weren’t well positioned to offer sweeteners to both of its trade partners.

Now, Phoenix could offer, say, one first-rounder to the Heat and one first-rounder to the team taking on Beal’s onerous contract, with an additional pick left over to potentially send to one of those two clubs (which team gets it could depend on what the rest of the deal looks like). Those individual picks aren’t as valuable on their own as the Suns’ unprotected 2031 first-rounder, but splitting them up into multiple tradable assets allows Phoenix to spread them out across multiple trade partners.

The same thinking would apply if the Suns don’t acquire Butler and instead make separate trades to upgrade their roster. For instance, Phoenix could look to trade Beal and a pair of first-round picks for a series of role players who would better complement Durant and Booker, then attach a third first-rounder to Jusuf Nurkic in order to try to upgrade that roster spot too.

Again, that Suns 2031 pick is more valuable on its own that any of the new picks Phoenix acquired, but it also represented a risk for any potential trade partner — it’s six years out, and there’s no guarantee it won’t end up in the 20s itself. The Jazz were willing to take the risk on that 2031 pick due to their cache of existing draft assets, but it wouldn’t have made sense for every team.

The new picks are simpler for teams to place a value on, so there shouldn’t be much disparity between what the Suns and a trade partner think they’re worth. That might not have been the case for the 2031 first-rounder.

It’s also worth noting that reacquiring picks in 2025 and 2027 and 2029 gives the Suns more flexibility in terms of which first-rounders they make available going forward. The team could theoretically now trade its picks in 2026 and 2028 while hanging onto the ones in the odd-numbered years without running afoul of the Stepien rule, which prohibits a club from leaving itself without a first-round pick in consecutive future drafts.

However, trading first-rounders for even-numbered years would limit the Suns to two tradable picks, since the 2030 first-rounder can’t be moved now that Phoenix doesn’t control a 2031 pick. Additionally, those 2026 and 2028 also have “least favorable” terms applied to them, so if they’re more valuable than the newly acquired picks, it’s only marginally.

The ’26 selection will be the least favorable of Washington’s, Orlando’s, Memphis’, and Phoenix’s first-rounders, while the ’28 pick – probably the most valuable of the bunch – figures to be the least favorable of Washington’s, Brooklyn’s, and Phoenix’s first-rounders (Philadelphia’s pick could also be in that mix if the Sixers don’t convey their pick to Brooklyn in 2027).

Whatever the Suns plan to do with their first-rounders from 2025-29, it seems like a relatively safe bet that they won’t still control all of them by the time the trade deadline passes on February 6.

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Suns Acquire Three First-Rounders From Jazz For Unprotected 2031 Pick

January 21st, 2025 at 6:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

7:15pm: The trade is official, according to the Suns and Jazz (Twitter links).

6:26pm: The Suns have been seeking more draft capital and they are making a trade to that end. They are sending their 2031 unprotected first rounder — the last tradable first-rounder in their possession — to the Jazz in exchange for three first-round picks, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.

The Suns are acquiring the following three picks:

  • The Cavaliers’ or Timberwolves’ 2025 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
  • The Jazz’s, Cavaliers’, or Timberwolves’ 2027 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
  • The Jazz’s, Cavaliers’, or Timberwolves’ 2029 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).

Phoenix now control first-rounders in each of the next six drafts and will have more flexibility to make trades with the additional picks. The Suns are operating over the second tax apron and have limited options on the trade market this season. They’re not able to aggregate contracts or take back more salary than they send out.

Phoenix’s only other tradable draft asset is the 2025 second-round pick it acquired from Charlotte (while sending out three second-rounders) during the recent trade for center Nick Richards. That will almost certainly be Denver’s second-rounder.

This move could help facilitate a potential Jimmy Butler trade for the Suns. According to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link), the Heat are seeking multiple picks plus two players for Butler, and any deal would likely include at least four teams. Bradley Beal would almost certainly have to be part of Phoenix’s outgoing trade package, and he’d also need to approve any deal since he has a no-trade clause.

Butler is back in action after serving a team-imposed seven-game suspension but is still looking to be dealt, with the Suns reportedly his preferred destination.

The incentive for the Jazz to make this deal is the lack of protections on the 2031 first-rounder. The 2025 pick they’re giving up will most likely be one of the last two picks in the first round, given the Cavaliers’ record, while the 2027 and 2029 first-rounder will be the least favorable of three selections. The Suns’ ’31 pick has significantly more upside, especially considering that Phoenix’s current roster isn’t necessarily built for sustainable long-term success.

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Community Shootaround: Western Conference Playoff Race

January 21st, 2025 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the 15 teams in the Western Conference, only two are clearly focused more on the 2025 draft lottery than the 2024/25 standings. The 10-31 Jazz and 14-28 Trail Blazers don’t have realistic postseason aspirations this season, with management prioritizing the development of young players and the possibility of landing another high draft pick.

Those two teams are sandwiching the 12-32 Pelicans, who definitely didn’t expect their season to play out like this. Plagued by injuries since top offseason acquisition Dejounte Murray broke his hand on opening night, New Orleans has won its past four games but likely dug too deep a hole in the first half to seriously vie for a play-in spot this season, even if the roster gets (and stays) fully healthy.

Still, that leaves 12 teams in the hunt for eight playoff spots in the Western Conference.

We can safely pencil in the Thunder for one of those spots — and it will almost certainly be the top one. At 35-7, Mark Daigneault‘s squad has a seven-game cushion on the next-best team in the conference.

The Rockets (28-14), Grizzlies (28-15) and Nuggets (26-16) round out the current top four in the West and appear well positioned to claim playoff berths. That’s not necessarily a lock, given how competitive the conference is — a single injury could be all it takes for one of those teams to fall back to the pack. But they’re in strong positions.

After the top four, things gets interesting. Here are the current Western Conference standings from five through 12:

  1. Los Angeles Clippers (24-18)
  2. Los Angeles Lakers (22-18)
  3. Dallas Mavericks (23-20)
  4. Sacramento Kings (22-20)
  5. Minnesota Timberwolves (22-21)
  6. Phoenix Suns (21-21)
  7. Golden State Warriors (21-21)
  8. San Antonio Spurs (19-22)

These eight teams are separated by a total of 4.5 games. The gap from No. 6 to 11 is just two games. A five-game winning streak or losing streak for any of these clubs could significantly change the perception of how their season is going.

To that point, as recently as January 4, the Kings were 12th in the conference at 16-19, while the Spurs were in eighth place at 18-16. A Sacramento hot streak and a San Antonio cold spell have resulted in those two clubs swapping places in the standings just seven games later.

The Spurs are probably a little ahead of schedule in their rebuild and didn’t necessarily expect to make the postseason this year, so if they continue to slump, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for them. But the rest of the clubs listed above had serious playoff aspirations this season. The Clippers, Lakers, Mavericks, Timberwolves, Suns, and Warriors are all spending into the tax on their rosters, and the Kings aren’t far off.

Barring a major collapse from one of the top four seeds, one of these clubs (or two, if San Antonio sticks around) will finish outside the top 10, missing out not just on the playoffs but on the play-in altogether. Two more will be eliminated in the play-in tournament and will fail to clinch one of the eight playoff spots in the West.

What happens at the trade deadline could go a long way toward determining how this race plays out down the stretch, but we want to know what you’re thinking at the halfway point of the season.

Which teams do you expect to finish outside of the top 10 in the West? Which teams will be eliminated in the play-in? Which clubs besides the Thunder are the most serious contenders to represent the conference in this year’s NBA Finals?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

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Trade Rumors: Bigs, Hornets, Raptors, Cavaliers

January 16th, 2025 at 3:28pm CST by Rory Maher

Of the four in-season trades already completed in 2024/25, two largely revolved around centers. More big men could be on the move prior to the February 6 trade deadline.

According to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer (Substack link), the Jazz are “actively exploring the market” for forward/center John Collins. The same is true of the Wizards and Jonas Valanciunas, though a recent report stated that Washington wouldn’t simply ship him off to the highest bidder.

League sources also tell the authors that the Bulls have welcomed trade calls on Nikola Vucevic for “weeks.”

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype recently reported that the Warriors have checked in on all three of the aforementioned players.

Here are some more trade rumors from Stein and Fischer:

  • After trading Nick Richards to the Suns, head of basketball operations Jeff Peterson said the Hornets will continue to “listen to everything” in order to build a sustainable contender. Josh Green, Cody Martin and Vasilije Micic are among the other Hornets who could be on the trade block, according to Stein and Fischer, who report that Charlotte is open to discussing second-year guard Nick Smith Jr. as well.
  • Veteran swingman Bruce Brown has been viewed as a trade candidate since he was acquired by the Raptors last year, but he remains on Toronto’s roster for now. It’s possible his $23MM expiring contract — and the fact that he has missed most of the season while recovering from offseason knee surgery — has been a roadblock in trade talks, but that may not be true for Chris Boucher, whose $10.8MM expiring deal is described by Stein and Fischer as “very movable.”
  • The Cavaliers signed Jarrett Allen to a three-year, $91MM extension on August 2. The timing of that deal wasn’t a coincidence — Cleveland insisted on the agreement being finalized before Aug. 6, so Allen would be trade-eligible before the deadline (Feb. 2). However, the former All-Star center is (unsurprisingly) not available in trade talks, in part due to the team’s league-best record. Aside from Allen, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, who are all off limits, the Cavs have been “listening to pitches” on other players but are “generally reluctant” to mess with the team’s chemistry, per Stein and Fischer.
  • “Good” second-round picks — selections that land in the early 30s — are believed to be at a premium in trade talks, in part due to the restrictions of the new tax aprons, Stein and Fischer add.
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Scotto’s Latest: Warriors, Vucevic, Centers, Connaughton, Suns

January 16th, 2025 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

After telling reporters earlier this week that he doesn’t want the Warriors to make a “desperate” trade that compromises the team’s long-term future for short-term gain, Stephen Curry clarified on Wednesday that his comments don’t mean he’s content playing on a .500 team that’s not trying to improve.

“Anyone who thinks I’m OK being on an average basketball team is insane,” Curry said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Take whatever I said, I still stand on it. But that doesn’t mean we’re not in a situation where we are trying to get better, make appropriate moves that help you do that. (General manager) Mike (Dunleavy Jr.) knows that. We’ve talked about it. That’s the expectation from me. It doesn’t mean you’re reckless.”

As Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports, Dunleavy and the Warriors are indeed exploring their options on the trade market, with a focus on upgrades in the frontcourt rather than on the wing. Golden State has looked into centers like Nikola Vucevic, John Collins, Jonas Valanciunas, and Robert Williams, according to Scotto, who says the odds of the team making a trade for a forward like Jimmy Butler or Cameron Johnson have decreased.

While the Warriors want to give Curry and Draymond Green a chance to compete for another title, they won’t mortgage their future to make it happen, Scotto writes, adding that the front office still remains reluctant to part with forward Jonathan Kuminga.

Here’s more from Scotto:

  • Following up on the trade market for centers, Scotto says some NBA executives believe the Bulls could land a first-round pick in a deal for Vucevic, who is having a strong season in Chicago. The Wizards and Trail Blazers are expected to command second-rounders for Valanciunas and Williams, respectively, while Collins’ value is hard to pin down, Scotto notes, given the $26.6MM player option the Jazz big man holds for 2025/26.
  • Rival executives who spoke to Scotto are monitoring Bucks wing Pat Connaughton as a trade candidate, since Milwaukee could duck below the second tax apron and create more roster flexibility by moving off of his $9.4MM salary. Connaughton is having a down year and holds a $9.4MM player option for ’25/26, so the Bucks would have to attach draft picks and/or cash to move off of him. While the Bucks can’t trade cash as long as they remain above the second apron, they could do so in a trade that moves them below that threshold.
  • After trading for Nick Richards, the Suns are expected to continue gauging Jusuf Nurkic‘s trade market and trying to figure out a Butler deal as they seek out win-now upgrades, Scotto writes. Scotto points out that role players Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen would both have positive value as trade chips, but there has been no indication that Phoenix would have interest in moving either player.
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NBA Announces New Dates For Nine Games

January 15th, 2025 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA, which recently had to postpone four games as a result of wildfires in Los Angeles and severe weather in Atlanta, has rescheduled three of those contests and announced date changes for six others, the league announced in a press release (Twitter link).

The Hornets/Lakers game that was supposed to be played last Thursday will take place at Crypto.com Arena on February 19, while the Hornets/Clippers game that had been scheduled for last Saturday has been moved to March 16.

Additionally, last Saturday’s Rockets/Hawks that was postponed due to the weather in Atlanta will now be played on January 28 at State Farm Arena.

There’s still no new date for last Saturday’s Spurs/Lakers game, with the NBA indicating that a make-up date for that contest will be announced at a later time.

In order to accommodate the rescheduled games, the NBA has also announced the following tweaks to the schedule:

  • The Bulls/Clippers game scheduled for January 21 in L.A. has been moved up to Jan. 20.
  • The Wizards/Jazz game scheduled for Jan. 23 in Utah has been moved back to March 19.
  • The Jazz/Lakers game scheduled for Feb. 11 in L.A. has been moved up to Feb. 10.
  • The Wizards/Clippers game scheduled for March 16 in L.A. has been moved up to Jan. 23.
  • The Wizards/Trail Blazers game scheduled for March 18 in Portland has been moved up to March 17.
  • The Clippers/Jazz game scheduled for March 19 in Utah has been moved up to Feb. 13.

Despite not being involved in any of last week’s postponed matchups, the Jazz and Wizards will each have three games moved around in order to help minimize back-to-backs and reduce travel.

It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Utah and Washington are among the NBA’s cellar dwellers — the league likely wanted to avoid making schedule changes that would significantly impact teams involved in playoff races.

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Eighteen More Players Become Trade-Eligible

January 15th, 2025 at 7:00am CST by Luke Adams

Today is Wednesday, January 15, which means that a total of 18 players who signed free agent contracts meeting specific criteria this past offseason are now eligible to be traded.

Most offseason signees became trade-eligible on December 15, but players who met the following criteria were ineligible to be moved for an extra month:

  1. The player re-signed with his previous team.
  2. He got a raise of at least 20%.
  3. His salary is above the minimum.
  4. His team was over the cap and used Bird or Early Bird rights to sign him.

The following players met that criteria and are eligible to be traded as of Wednesday:

Most of the players on NBA rosters are now eligible to be moved, though a small handful still can’t be dealt.

That group includes Kings forward Doug McDermott, who becomes trade-eligible on Thursday, Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser (trade-eligible on January 23), Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (Jan. 26), Grizzlies big man Jay Huff (Jan. 28), Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (Feb. 2), and Knicks center Ariel Hukporti (Feb. 5).

Additionally, there are several players who won’t become trade-eligible at all prior to this season’s February 6 deadline, including stars like Joel Embiid, Lauri Markkanen, and Jamal Murray.

Players on 10-day contracts are also ineligible to be dealt.

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Jazz Notes: Juzang, Williams, Harkless, Markkanen

January 12th, 2025 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz‘s matchup with the Heat on Thursday gave them a first-hand look at the sort of player they envision as a model for third-year wing Johnny Juzang, writes Kevin Reynolds of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Head coach Will Hardy referred to Heat forward Duncan Robinson as the “poster boy” for the type of unheralded prospect who earns a spot in the NBA with his reliable three-point shooting and length on defense. Like Robinson, Juzang went undrafted out of college, and Hardy said this week that he spoke to the former UCLA standout when he arrived in Utah about how he could stick in the NBA.

“We had a pretty honest conversation about what I felt like he needed to do to make it,” Hardy said. “He was sort of an all-around scorer in college, had the ball a lot. Johnny has two really great gifts. He can really shoot and he is in really good shape. We felt like him becoming a real threat from the three-point line, and making that the centerpiece, would allow him to stick.”

Juzang played sparingly while on a two-way contract during his first two seasons with the Jazz, appearing in just 38 total contests. But he showed enough to earn a multiyear deal this past offseason that includes a guaranteed $3.1MM salary in 2024/25.

The remaining three seasons on the 23-year-old’s contract are non-guaranteed, so he’ll have to continuing proving to Utah’s front office that he deserves his roster spot. He’s off to a promising start this season, having averaged 7.3 points per game with a .400 3PT% through 32 appearances (17.8 MPG), including 9.2 PPG with a .446 3PT% since the start of December.

Here’s more on the Jazz:

  • Juzang missed Saturday’s game in Phoenix due to a fracture in his right hand, but the club doesn’t believe that injury will require a lengthy absence. As Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune relays (via Twitter), the Jazz stated that once the inflammation subsides, they “anticipate he will be able to play with the fracture as pain tolerates.”
  • Saturday’s 13-point performance against Phoenix was a promising sign for rookie Cody Williams, who has badly struggled offensively in the first half of the season, Larsen writes for The Tribune (subscription required). Williams’ ball-handling and footwork still need work, but he has shown good touch near the basket out to about 15 feet, Larsen observes. His 13 points on Saturday represented a career high and he was a plus-7 across 22 minutes in a game Utah lost by eight points.
  • Elijah Harkless, who signed a two-way contract with Utah at the start of January, made his NBA debut on Saturday vs. the Suns, Larsen notes in the same story. While Harkless has been shooting the ball well this season in the G League, making 40.8% of his three-pointers, he’s best known for his defense. Asked last week by Larsen to introduce his game to Jazz fans, Harkless replied, “I’m competitive. Best on-ball defender on the planet.” He went scoreless with four rebounds in nine minutes on Saturday.
  • In case you missed it in our Community Shootaround discussion on Saturday, Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen was among the players labeled by scouts and executives who spoke to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Insider link) as one of the season’s disappointments so far. “He’s probably not super motivated because the team is tanking,” one executive said of Markkanen, who signed a long-term extension with Utah in August. “But his numbers and his overall level is down across the board.”
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