The Utah Jazz knew the predicament ahead of them when they traded Walker Kessler. Instead of trying to find one lone center to replace what he did, they opted for the center-by-committee approach. They re-signed Jusuf Nurkic, then brought in Jaxson Hayes and Mo Bamba.
Unfortunately, they were dealt a notable blow when Nurkic injured his toe, which will sideline him for a little bit, but not too long. Even so, it makes their frontcourt depth a little shaky, so they did what any other team would do in their shoes: fortify their frontcourt a little more. Better yet, they did this by bringing back a familiar face: Tony Bradley.
ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Utah claimed Bradley off waivers after the Knicks cut him and multiple Jazz alumni earlier this week. Bradley has been an NBA journeyman since leaving Utah in 2020, but he has still proven to be good enough for teams to take flyers on him.
With Bradley, Utah gets a familiar face and six more fouls, even if he's not really the best option. At the same time, it was slim pickings and Utah definitely needs more bigs with Nurkic out.
Bringing in someone familiar is smart
There's no one on this Jazz roster that Bradley played with the last time he donned a Utah uniform. Even so, he knows the team pretty well, and they did trust him as their primary backup during the 2019-20 season (thanks for everything, Ed Davis!).
They didn't bring him back because they understandably believed Derrick Favors was the best option (knowing what happened after that, WHOOPS!). Bradley has bounced around but still, he's clearly talented enough to stick around in the NBA.
So what does he do that made Utah want to pick specifically him, and not, say, bring someone like Kevin Love back? Well, he rebounds. The rebounding is likely going to be a problem for the Jazz with Kessler gone and Nurkic out due to injury. Neither Lauri Markkanen nor Jaren Jackson Jr. are good rebounders for their size, which will be a problem for them when opponents inevitably exploit that.
In nearly 11 minutes a game over the course of his career, Bradley averages almost four rebounds, which is quite good and will be quite useful if it's clear the Jazz need a big who can get on the boards.
Sadly, though, that's kind of where his qualities end. That's why he's never really stuck anywhere. He may not even be a long-term fixture for Utah this year, but hey, if the bar is set at being a band-aid, the Jazz could have done much worse!
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