Utah Jazz buyout candidate #1: Kent Bazemore
Kent Bazemore was admittedly not in the midst of a career year with the Los Angeles Lakers. Prior to being released, the veteran wing was averaging 3.7 points per game while shooting 32.8% from the field and 35.4% from deep.
This is the top buyout candidate for the Utah Jazz?
Well, we did mention that Bazemore would be joining the squad by way of the Los Angeles Lakers. If you haven’t noticed, nobody is exactly thriving over there lately. With LeBron James and Russell Westbrook dueling for ball dominance in an offense with perhaps the league’s worst spacing, Lakers shooters like Bazemore have struggled.
He wouldn’t have that issue in Utah, where spacing reigns supreme. It’s probably worth looking at Bazemore’s numbers in a similarly spaced out Golden State system from last season. There, he shot 40.8% on 6.5 three-point attempts per 100 possessions. He also posted a 1.7 DBPM (compared to 0.9 this year)
That feels like the real Kent Bazemore. If it is, he’d be a welcomed addition to the Utah Jazz.
The Utah Jazz could use a slight roster upgrade to improve their odds at winning an NBA championship. Any one of these players, if they do get bought out, would qualify.