Utah Jazz: Predicting the final landing spot for Jazz free agents
By John Keeffer
Team Options
Thabo Sefolosha: $5,250,000
Jonas Jerebko: $4,200,000
Ekpe Udoh: $3,360,000
After the delayed departure of Gordon Hayward last offseason, the Jazz had limited options remaining in free agency. Smartly, they were able to go out and sign three under-the-radar free agents, and to extremely team-friendly contracts to boot.
Thabo Sefolosha, Jonas Jerebko and Ekpe Udoh were signed on two-year contracts, with a team option for the second year. Heading into free agency, the Jazz will have to act as though that money is on the books, but if they run into a situation where they want a player and more money is necessary, they can renounce the rights to one or more of these players to create space.
That will be a tough decision, however, as each of these players proved extremely effective this past year though. Let’s go through each of them real quick.
Sefolosha is the most pressing, as the Jazz must make a decision on him by July 1, unless the league is willing to allow them to push that date back to July 9th. He had a strong season, and prior to injuring his leg was scoring a career high 8.2 points, and shooting an impressive 38 percent from three.
The offensive production was just a bonus, because what you were really wanting out of Sefolosha was elite defense on the wing, and you got it. He had a defensive box plus/minus of 2.3, averaged 1.4 steals per game and had a steals percentage of 3.2 percent. When on the court, he had a defensive rating of 102.1.
The big question with Sefolosha is determining how much the Jazz him now that Jae Crowder is on the roster and under contract for the next two seasons. Both would be fulfilling a similar role, and there likely isn’t a need for both on the roster. In the end, I expect the Jazz to turn down Sefolosha’s final year.
Jerebko was quietly extremely effective for the Utah Jazz this past season. As the Jazz entered into the playoffs, his role was lessened, but he was always ready when called upon.
The Jazz have long wanted a stretch four on their roster, and Jerebko was able to fill that role admirably this year. He averaged just under six points per game, but he shot 41.4 percent from three.
With a limited role, I expect Jerebko to be back with the Jazz this next season. The only exception would be if they felt they could get a more skilled stretch four to take a slightly larger role. I have heard many people bringing up Nemanja Bjelica of the Minnesota Timberwolves as an option. While I like Bjelica, I don’t know if he is that much of an upgrade from Jerebko.
The biggest question mark on bringing in Bjelica to replace Jerebko, is whether Minnesota’s system is what held him back, and if he could perform at an even higher level under Quinn Snyder.
I've seen a lot of people who are high on Nemanja Bjelica, and I do think he is a solid player, but after looking at the numbers he seems a bit repetitive to Jonas Jerebko. pic.twitter.com/atxWP6TsX0
— John Keeffer (@john_keeffer) June 26, 2018
Lastly, we have Ekpe Udoh. He is the least expensive of the three, and is perhaps the ultimate Rudy Gobert insurance. Over the past few seasons, Gobert has struggled to stay healthy over the course of an entire season, so he is definitely needed.
Udoh only played in 63 games and for just 13 minutes per game, but when he played, he anchored the defense. He averaged 1.2 blocks in that short amount of time, and had a defensive rating of 101.3.
For both Udoh and Jerebko, the Jazz have until July 9 to make an official decision on their second year team options.