Two former Utah Jazz players are taking their talents overseas.
Once you play for the Utah Jazz, you’ll be a member of that fraternity for the rest of your life. It’s why so many Jazz-oriented outlets like this one cover former players, as well as current players. Being able to highlight their journey after stopping in Salt Lake is one of the biggest ‘thank yous’ anyone can give them.
And while a lot of players leave Utah and stay in the league, some end up leaving the Jazz and finding it hard to find another home in the league. Some chose to return to their countries of origin, like Andrei Kirilenko, who returned to his old team of CSKA Moscow after the 2011 NBA season came to a close.
Others, like Raul Neto and Derrick Favors are forced to head overseas just to continue their careers.
For Neto, he ended up heading to Philadelphia after four years in Utah. Then he was a backup for the Washington Wizards, and he last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Neto, of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, will be taking his skillset too Turkey to paly for Fenerbahce Beko.
The hope for Neto is that he can earn his way back into the league if he has a good outing with this Turkish pro team. At 31 that’s a longshot.
As for Favors, there’s a rumor from Emiliano Carchia, that Favors is negotiating to join the Shenghai Sharks in China. While the Sharks are now a meme on Twitter whenever a player starts strugglign, they are in fact a real pro team, and have had some notable names on their roster. Namely Yao Ming and now Eric Bledsoe.
It’s still a rumor right now, and he hasn’t officially signed yet, but if he does then Favors may try and use this as a springboard back to the NBA. Fans of a certain age will remember that Favors came over in the Derron Williams deal in 2011