Several alumni of the Utah Jazz remain free agents with training camp not too long from now. Some of them aren't too surprising since either their NBA career was hanging by a thread regardless while others are on their last legs.
Does this mean a reunion with the Jazz could be in the cards for any of these players? Probably not. But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be in the NBA period.
With all of that said, there are six former Jazz players who remain free to grab.
6. Udoka Azubuike
Azubuike had an unremarkable tenure with his three seasons with the Jazz, which isn't too surprising knowing that he was the 27th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Unfortunately, Azubuike will be remembered most by Jazz fans for being taken over the likes of Desmond Bane, Jaden McDaniels and Xavier Tillman.
Azubuike is coming off a short tenure with the Suns. He might be better off going overseas where he'll get time
5. Jared Butler
Butler was once a project for the Jazz, but said project never truly turned into anything particularly impactful. Butler only played one season in Utah - the last of the Donovan Mitchell/Rudy Gobert era - before they waived him in 2022.
Butler did see a much more prominent role with the Wizards, averaging 14.6 minutes a game, leading to some noticable improvements all-around. At 24 years old, Butler is not a puppy, but he is young enough that a team looking to find diamonds in the rough could certainly take their chances with him.
4. Omer Yurtseven
The Jazz waived Yurtseven not too long after the NBA Draft. There wasn't much need for the backup big seeing how they added Kyle Filipowski to a big man rotation that has Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, and John Collins.
Yurtseven only boasts three years of NBA experience, but he also has been on two playoff teams who made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and 2023 in Miami. His experience could be beneficial for a team trying to go on a lengthy playoff run since he knows what it's like even if he didn't play.
3. Wesley Matthews Jr.
Any real Jazz fan knows that Matthew started his NBA career as a Jazzman. Even if it was only for two years, there was truly a time when Matthews captivated the fanbase because of how miraculous his development was.
His days of one of the league's best 3&D wings have been long gone for quite some time, but he has impressively still kept his NBA career alive for as long as it has despite suffering an Achilles tear, one of the worst injuries an NBA player can suffer.
Matthews' experience could make him quite the mentor for a young team or optimistically, an innings eater for a team when they are undermanned.
2. Jae Crowder
Alright, so now we're at the portion where former Jazz players who are still free agents could not only be signed, but could actually factor into a team's rotation. Enter Jae Crowder.
Crowder is no longer the 3&D starting wing on playoff contenders when he played for the Jazz, Boston Celtics, and Miami Heat, but he has been a rotation player for the Milwaukee Bucks for the last season and a half that a team could depend on him to come off the bench to keep their players fresh for the postseason.
His postseason stats for the last two years don't scream a little yikes, but more like EPIC YIKES to the point that a team would likely only play him if they have no other options. Perhaps with lower expectations, Crowder could help to some degree. Just not nearly as much as he used to.
1. Talen Horton-Tucker
Never say never on Horton-Tucker returning to the Jazz, but Spotrac's Keith Smith reporting what the Jazz had to do with Horton-Tucker to make extend Markkanen strongly hints that a return is probably out of the question.
In order to create the cap space to renegotiation-and-extend Lauri Markkanen, the Utah Jazz renounced the free agents Talen Horton-Tucker and Kira Lewis Jr., a league source told @spotrac.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 7, 2024
Horton-Tucker was one of those "Why not?" additions for the Jazz back in 2022. However, he couldn't take that next step that many thought he could at one point, but that might have come with the territory of being a Laker with some promise.
However, he is still only 23, has an NBA championship to his name, and has some scoring prowess. Unfortunately, he entered free agency coming off a turbulent season in Utah. However, of all the former Jazz men who have entered free agency, he's the most likely to actually play whether in the regular season or the playoffs.