Jazz Rumors

Jazz Sign Emmanuel Mudiay

JULY 20, 8:30am: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 2, 7:53pm: Free agent point guard Emmanuel Mudiay has agreed to sign a one-year deal with the Jazz, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

While terms of the deal weren’t mentioned, it figures to be a minimum-salary pact. Utah is using its cap room to take on Mike Conley, and has committed its room exception to Ed Davis.

Mudiay, a former seventh overall pick, enjoyed the most productive year of his NBA career in 2018/19 for the Knicks, averaging 14.8 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 3.3 RPG on .446/.329/.774 shooting in 59 games (27.2 MPG). He was eligible for a qualifying offer, but New York opted not to extend one, making him an unrestricted free agent.

While Mudiay hasn’t lived up to his pre-draft hype during his four NBA seasons, he’s still just 23 years. The Jazz want to help him develop, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links), who adds that Utah’s strong developmental program also appealed to Mudiay’s camp.

With Raul Neto hitting waivers as a cap casualty, Mudiay projects to come off the bench along with Dante Exum as Conley’s backups at the point.

Jazz Sign Jeff Green To One-Year Deal

JULY 20, 8:09am: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 2, 6:10pm: The Jazz will sign Jeff Green to a one-year deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Green will make $2.5MM, the minimum for a player of his experience level.

Green played last season for the Wizards. He had said he would “love to come back” to Washington but the franchise added wings/forwards in the draft, which complicated matters. The 32-year-old was speculated to be a target of the Lakers, given his previous success playing alongside LeBron James.

Utah needed replacements for both Derrick Favors (sent to the Pelicans) and Jae Crowder (dealt to the Grizzlies). Green will help replenish the team’s depth. Utah came to agreements with Bojan Bogdanovic and Ed Davis to help stabilize the frontcourt.

Ed Davis Signs Two-Year Deal With Jazz

JULY 20, 8:03am: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JUNE 30, 9:20pm: The Jazz have agreed to sign big man Ed Davis to a two-year deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com passes along via Twitter. Davis will make $10MM over the next two seasons.

Utah will use the room exception to sign Davis, which is the same type of deal the big man inked last summer in Brooklyn. Davis was our Room Exception MVP, as I broke down in our contract awards.

Davis had previously stated that the financials would likely dictate his destination in free agency. “First is the money…Then, two is fit,” Davis said last month.

The Jazz agreed to a contract with Bojan Bogdanovic earlier in the day, reaching a four-year, $73MM deal with the wing. The team is expected to either trade or waive Derrick Favors in order to accommodate the signing. Davis will help Utah fortify its big man rotation.

Jazz Sign Nigel Williams-Goss

JULY 19: The Jazz have officially signed Williams-Goss, per NBA.com’s transactions log. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), the three-year deal is worth $4.8MM, with a fully guaranteed first season.

A minimum-salary contract for Williams-Goss would only be worth about $4.2MM, so it sounds as if Utah used its remaining cap room to give him a larger first-year salary.

JULY 13: The Jazz are signing Nigel Williams-Goss to a three-year contract, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic (hat tip to EuroHoops.net).

Utah selected the former Gonzaga star in the second round of the 2017 draft and retained his rights. He drew interest from two other teams who wanted to acquired him via trade, but the Jazz chose to retain him and add him to their roster (Twitter links here).

Williams-Goss played in Europe last season for Olympiacos in Greece. He averaged 11.3 PPG and 4.6 APG in 25.0 MPG in 23 games.

The 6’3” Williams-Goss, 24, spent the previous season with Serbian club Partizan.

He joins a crowded backcourt that includes point men Mike Conley, Dante Exum and Emmanuel Mudiay.

Details On Utah's Cap Machinations, Latest Signings

After trading away Derrick Favors and signing Bojan Bogdanovic, the Jazz had a little leftover cap room and took advantage of that remaining space by signing Miye Oni, William Howard, and Stanton Kidd to three-year contracts, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Utah would have been limited to two-year deals if the club had exhausted its cap space.

The Jazz intend to have Howard, Kidd, and others compete for the 15th and final roster spot in training camp, per Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links), who notes that both Howard and Kidd received partial guarantees for the 2019/20 season.

Jazz Sign William Howard

JULY 17: The signing is now official, according to a release from the team.

JULY 15: French forward William Howard, who was on Utah’s roster for Summer League play this month, has reached a verbal agreement to sign with the Jazz, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As Jones details, the deal has not yet been made official because there’s a small buyout issue to be sorted out. Howard technically remains under contract with Limoges, but Crawford Palmer – the sports director of the French club – confirmed that all involved parties are looking to free up Howard to join the Jazz. As Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays, Utah is expected to pay a buyout worth 150K Euros.

Howard, 25, averaged 10.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 16 EuroCup contests in 2018/19. Although he was part of Utah’s Summer League team, he didn’t actually play in any games, having been ruled out of the team’s final matchup on Saturday due to right groin soreness.

Still, as Jones details, the Jazz like Howard’s shooting ability and wanted to add more depth on the wing.

Details of Howard’s new contract with the Jazz aren’t yet known.

Jazz Sign Stanton Kidd

After spending Summer League with the Jazz, combo forward Stanton Kidd has signed with the team, according to a release tweeted by Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News.

Utah was interested in adding Kidd last summer, but he had another year left on his contract with Turkish team Darussafaka and no escape clause to let him join the NBA. He averaged 7.9 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 50 EuroLeague and Turkish League games this season.

Now 27, Kidd played for the Jazz entry in two leagues this summer, averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in three games in Salt Lake City and posting an 8.2/2.6/1.4 line in five games in Las Vegas.

The Jazz have been in the market for wing depth and like the defense and athleticism that Kidd brings, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Utah also finalized a deal today with William Howard.

New Orleans Was Favors' Preferred Destination

  • The Pelicans were Derrick Favors‘ preferred destination once it was clear the Jazz were moving him, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Utah needed to trade Favors in order to accommodate the Bojan Bogdanovic signing.

Jazz Sign Jarrell Brantley, Justin Wright-Foreman To Two-Way Deals

The Jazz have filled both of their two-way contract slots, inking Jarrell Brantley and Justin Wright-Foreman to deals, per the team’s Twitter feed.

Brantley was the No. 50 selection in the 2019 draft and Utah acquired his draft rights in a trade with the Pacers. Brantley spent four years at the College of Charleston before coming to the league, averaging 19.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 2.4 APG in 33 games as a senior.. The 23-year-old wing recently played for the Jazz’s Summer League squads.

Wright-Foreman was selected with the No. 53 overall pick in this year’s draft. He spent four years in college as well, appearing in 125 games for Hofstra and ranking second in the nation in 2018/19 with 27.1 PPG. The 21-year-old guard also played for Utah’s 2019 Summer League teams.

Utah didn’t have any first-round picks in this year’s draft, but loaded up on selections in the back half of the second round. In addition to selecting Brantley and Wright-Foreman, the club also nabbed Miye Oni at No. 58 — he signed a standard NBA contract earlier this week.

Contract Details For Miye Oni

  • The Jazz signed No. 58 overall pick Miye Oni to his first NBA contract on Monday, and Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights has the details, tweeting that Oni received a three-year, minimum-salary contract with the first year guaranteed. The second and third years on the deal, which was signed using Utah’s leftover cap room, are non-guaranteed, Siegel notes.