Utah Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey continued his wheeling and dealing, making a deal for San Antonio Spurs big man Boris Diaw.
Before free agency officially began on July 1, the word around Utah Jazz land was that general manager Dennis Lindsey would look to be aggressive in both signing players and seeking out trades. With a strong, youthful core already in place, Lindsey indicated he would explore every avenue to bring in strong supplementary pieces.
True to his word, the Jazz GM made a deal to acquire guard George Hill before the 2016 NBA Draft, then reached agreement on a two-year contract with seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson this past weekend.
With those acquisitions, the team knocked out some of their greatest areas of need, i.e. a stable presence at the point guard, wing depth, experience and shooting.
One of the few remaining gaps in the roster following the Hill-Johnson moves was the lack of a bench big who can stretch the floor and pass the ball next to Trey Lyles, as well as give the team the ability to put five shooters/playmakers on the floor at once.
Lindsey and Jazz brass wasted no time in plugging that gap, agreeing to trade the draft rights for their second round pick in 2015, combo guard Olivier Hanlan, to the San Antonio Spurs for veteran big man Boris Diaw.
Diaw, 34, has career averages of 9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game and has hit on nearly 37 percent of his three-point attempts over the course of his five years with the Spurs.
After news of the trade broke, the newest Jazzman took to Twitter with a shout out for his new club, as well as Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Diaw’s longtime teammate with the French national team–
https://twitter.com/theborisdiaw/status/750435910219493376
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The 6-foot-8, 250-pound Diaw is set to make $7 million next season, with the Jazz owning the option on his deal for 2017-18 at $7.5 million. With the move, the Spurs created the space necessary to finalize their deal with Pau Gasol.
In addition to acquiring Diaw, it was also reported that the Jazz would pick up the second-year option on Shelvin Mack‘s contract.
From @Tjonessltrib: The Jazz are set to guarantee Shelvin Mack's contract. https://t.co/mImsR0e7Qx pic.twitter.com/FSUbDtbbE7
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) July 5, 2016
Mack averaged nearly 13 points, five assists and four rebounds after joining the Jazz at the trade deadline. He also started 27 of his 28 appearances with the team down the stretch.
With the acquisition of Hill and the impending return of Dante Exum, Mack will likely become the team’s third point guard, the same role he played for the Atlanta Hawks before last season’s trade to Utah.
Curiously, the Jazz now have four point guards under contract for next season in Exum, Hill, Mack and Raul Neto. The team could still make a move to break up the logjam, or we could see Neto retained and optioned to the D-League’s Salt Lake City Stars.
The Brazilian is coming off a surprisingly strong rookie season, during which he started 53 games and shot nearly 40 percent from three-point range.
In any event, with the moves they’ve made in recent weeks, the Jazz have shored up several areas of need and look to be on the cusp of making some serious noise in the Western Conference.