Omer Yurstseven is hoping to bounce back with the Utah Jazz.
The Utah Jazz signed Omer Yurtseven this offseason, with the hope of giving Walker Kessler some support in the size department. Getting Yurtseven, a promising, young big, also allows the Jazz to explore trades involving Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk, who’s in the last year of his contract, could be dealt in a deal that could see the Jazz get back some assets worth investing in. Young players, draft picks, who knows?
But that potential deal can only truly happen if Yurtseven is fully healthy. The Jazz have a lot of tall players, but they lack a lot of genuine center-types. Kessler, Yurtseven, and Olynyk are really the only players that could be seen as genuine centers on the team. Hence the need for Yurtseven.
The only problem is, despite the Miami Heat being very high on him over the last few seasons, they let him walk in free agency due to a decline in play. A decline caused, partially, by a foot injury.
Speaking to the Salt Lake Tribune, Yurtseven spoke about how the foot injury hampered him last season and how he learned from it, saying;
"I think the toughest part was that it was my first kind of big injury. With that, I think I learned a lot. I upped the intensity with everything that I did. I used to train twice a day and I bumped it up to three. Now it was about staying consistent and disciplined and being active and proactive through it all. Whether it be morning, noon, night, I just wanted to do something for recovery and use all the tools to my advantage and speed up that process. And I think that process taught me how I can be a lot more diligent about recovery."
Yurtseven is going to be an important piece for the Jazz for a variety of reasons. If he’s healthy, he can provide depth for the team and allow them to move on from Olynyk and hopefully get something back for him. Not only that but if he can continue developing, then he could be a nice player off the bench to spell Kessler.
Plus, should Kessler have to deal with any injuries, having someone like Yurtseven will only help the Jazz stay competitive.