Utah Jazz: Jonas Jerebko freed up to pursue ring with Warriors

Jonas Jerebko won’t be retained by the Utah Jazz for the 2018-19 season, freeing him to sign on with the Golden State Warriors.

The Utah Jazz have clearly bucked the trend in the NBA this offseason. While the majority of the Association’s teams are looking outward to improve their roster, the Jazz are counting on internal development. As such, the team will seemingly roll with almost entirely the same roster next season.

However, not everyone is going to be back. On Saturday morning, the team announced its decision to part ways with big man Jonas Jerebko.

The Jazz had until July 9 to waive Jerebko before his $4.2 million salary for 2018-19 campaign became guaranteed. Ultimately, they decided to do so, making him the first (and, perhaps, only) casualty of the offseason.

A similar decision on center Ekpe Udoh still looms. But there’s a feeling he’ll be back in Utah next year.

The 31-year-old had only kind things to say about the Jazz following their decision to move on. “I loved my time in Salt Lake and will always remember it,” Jerebko said, via Twitter.

After some initial bumps on the road, Jerebko had a solid year for the Jazz in ’17-18. In total, he appeared in 74 games for Utah, starting 19 of them, averaging nearly six points and just over three rebounds per contest.

Jerebeko also posted shooting splits of 47-41-80, making him one of the better shooting bigs in the game last season. As a result, the Jazz scored 108 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor.

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He proved particularly useful when Rudy Gobert was out with his first knee injury. From November 13 to December 1, he started 10 consecutive games and put up 10 points and five boards in 22 minutes per game.

Despite his time in Utah coming to an end, Jerebko has reason to be excited for next season. According to reports, he’ll be joining the Golden State Warriors once he clears waivers. There, he’ll have an opportunity to capture a championship ring after coming up short in the playoffs with both the Jazz and the Boston Celtics.

The signing should come as no surprise — Jerebko is a quality floor-spacer in the second unit. He should be a strong basketball fit in Oakland.

Meanwhile, the Jazz now have both a roster spot and a little bit more money under the luxury tax threshold to play with. They could fill it from the outside via trade or free agency, but there’s also a chance to Georges Niang has played himself into the spot.

Niang averaged 16.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game during the Utah Jazz Summer League last week, hitting 50 percent of his triples along the way. In the Jazz’s first summer game in Las Vegas on Saturday, he scored 16 points and hit 2-of-5 shots from distance.

Niang was a two-way player for Utah last season.