Utah Jazz Blog – Page 30 – NBA Blog

Utah Jazz assign Joel Bolomboy to D-League

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has assigned forward Joel Bolomboy to the Salt Lake City Stars, the Jazz’s exclusively owned and operated NBA D-League team. He is expected to participate in Stars practice today at Taylorsville Recreation Center.

This will be the first assignment this season for Bolomboy. Bolomboy (6-9, 235, Weber State) has appeared in two games for the Jazz this season, averaging 1.5 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.5 blocked shots in 2.6 minutes per game. He registered three points, one rebound and one blocked shot at Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 30.

Bolomboy is the fifth player to be assigned to the D-League under the Jazz-Stars single affiliation. Other players on the current Jazz roster with D-League experience include Rudy Gobert and Shelvin Mack.

Utah Jazz waive Chris Johnson

The Utah Jazz have waived forward Chris Johnson. Following the move, Utah’s roster now stands at 15 players.

Johnson (6-6, 206, Dayton) appeared in all six preseason games for the Jazz, averaging 5.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.2 minutes. He appeared in 82 games (two starts) for Utah over the past two seasons, averaging 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per contest.

The 6-6 forward originally signed a 10-day contract with the Jazz during the 2014-15 season before signing a multi-year deal on March 26, 2015.

Rodney Hood returns from injury

Here’s the Salt Lake Tribune with an update on Rodney Hood, who averaged 14.5 points per game last season and remains a key member of the Utah Jazz:

Shots were short all night for the Utah Jazz’s starting shooting guard. His explosion to the rim off the dribble wasn’t there, and there were times he was frustrated by the shots he was missing.

All the same, it was a return, and Hood was glad to get out onto the floor. In what was an 88-84 preseason loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, Hood was happy to work out the kinks in a game that didn’t count. Now, he can move on to the real thing.

“I’ll be ready for the regular season,” Hood said. “I hadn’t been practicing or anything, so it was good to get out there and be able to take contact.”

That’s why the shooting struggles, and the overall rustiness mattered little to Hood. His return to health from the sprained left hand was more important.

Jazz waive Eric Dawson, Quincy Ford and Marcus Paige

The Jazz waived forward Eric Dawson, forward/guard Quincy Ford and guard Marcus Paige today.

Eric Dawson (6-9, 255, Mideastern State) appeared in one preseason game, scoring two points in 13 minutes of action vs. Phoenix on Oct. 12. He signed as a free agent on Sept. 21.

Quincy Ford (6-8, 225, Northeastern) scored two points in 12 minutes vs. the Suns on Oct. 12. He signed as a free agent on Sept. 6 after competing for the Jazz entries in both the Utah Jazz Summer League and NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Paige (6-2, 175, North Carolina) averaged 5.5 points and 1.5 assists in two preseason games for Utah. He also competed at the Utah Jazz Summer League and NBA Summer League for the Jazz entries.

The Jazz roster now stands at 17 players.

Utah Jazz hire DeSagana Diop

The Utah Jazz have hired DeSagana Diop as a coaching associate.

Diop will assist the Jazz coaching staff in a variety of capacities including work on the court during practices and individual player workouts, video editing and analysis, and other team preparation.

The coaching associate position was created by the Jazz to provide prospective coaches an opportunity to gain further experience in an apprenticeship role in order to better prepare them for a future career in coaching.

Prior to joining the Jazz, Diop spent the previous two seasons working on the coaching staff of the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League (2014-16), serving one year as a player development coach before being promoted to assistant coach prior to last season.

A former first-round pick (eighth overall) of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2001 NBA Draft directly out of high school, Diop played 12 seasons (2001-13) and appeared in more than 600 career games with the Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets and Charlotte Bobcats before. Known for his shot blocking abilities, Diop was a member of the 2006 Mavericks team that reached the NBA Finals.

A native of Senegal, Diop was a McDonald’s High School All-American coming out of Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, and is also a former member of the Senegalese national team.

Dante Exum healthy, ready to return

Young Jazz point guard Dante Exum played all 82 games as a rookie, averaging 4.8 ppg on 34.9% FG. He then missed his entire second season due to injury. Exum is now healthy and set to return to action, though the Jazz have now added veteran PG George Hill, which takes pressure off of Exum and allows him to develop at his own pace. Here’s the Here’s the Deseret News reporting:

Exum, the fifth pick of the 2014 draft, said he’s never been so pumped up for a practice as he was leading up to the beginning of training camp. Sitting out for a year can do that to a hungry and enthusiastic young man.

“I was just excited to get back out there,” Exum said after the first of two practices Tuesday. “I was feeling good. I was just ready to come out there, talk when I can and run between every drill.”

Both his attitude and his body were at 100 percent as he returned from a yearlong rehab that followed his September 2015 surgery on his left knee that had been injured in a friendly international game with the Australian team.

Exum said sitting out of games — especially staying home watching on TV when the team was on the road — was his biggest challenge during that lengthy ordeal. He also struggled seeing his teammates practice and improve while he wasn’t able to do anything on the court. The mental part of this experience, one prolonged by the Jazz’s extra-cautious rehab process, could be more difficult than the physical at times. Even so, he learned patience and got to know his coach’s mindset better while sitting behind the bench during games.

Jazz sign Henry Sims

The Jazz have signed free agent center Henry Sims.

We will assume this is a non-guaranteed deal that merely brings Sims to training camp.

Sims (6-10, 248, Georgetown) has appeared in 135 NBA games over four seasons with New Orleans, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, owning career averages of 7.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 18.8 minutes per game. Sims finished the 2015-16 season with the Nets, appearing in 14 games (four starts) and averaging 6.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 block in 18.8 minutes of action.

He has also spent time in the NBA D-League with the Erie BayHawks, Canton Charge and Grand Rapids Drive. Sims averaged 15.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 30.0 minutes per game before signing with Brooklyn in March of 2016.

The Baltimore native, played four years at Georgetown (2008-12), averaging 11.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks as a senior. He played high school basketball at Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore.

He will wear jersey #30 for the Jazz.

Jazz announce basketball staff promotions and additions

The Jazz have promoted Richard Smith to executive director of international scouting and Bart Taylor to Jazz director of scouting/Salt Lake City Stars vice president of basketball operations.

Additionally, the team has hired Nixon Dorvilien as director of rehabilitation.

Smith is promoted to executive director of international scouting and will now head the Jazz’s global scouting efforts. He is entering his 22nd year with the organization having worked in a variety of capacities within basketball operations. For the past three seasons he served as the Jazz executive director of player services, following prior stints as director of basketball operations, director of scouting services, video coordinator and advance scout. A native of Norwich, Conn., “Smitty” earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Central Connecticut State College.

As Jazz director of scouting/Stars vice president of basketball operations, Taylor will serve the dual role of coordinating the Jazz’s scouting efforts while also directing all basketball-related decisions for the Jazz-owned NBA Development League team, which is set to begin its inaugural season in Utah in November. Now in his fifth season with the Jazz, Taylor had most recently served as the Jazz coordinator of scouting. Born and raised in San Antonio, Taylor served basketball operations internships with both his hometown Spurs and their NBA D-League affiliate the (then) Austin Toros after attending Trinity University in San Antonio, where he played basketball for three years and earned a degree in mathematics.

In his newly created role, Dorvilien will work closely with the Jazz’s medical and sports science staffs on injury prevention, athlete recovery and return to optimal performance after injury.

Dorvilien comes to the Jazz after spending the previous two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks (2014-16), the first as assistant athletic trainer before being promoted to head athletic trainer for his second season. He also spent time with the Brooklyn Nets (2012-14) as assistant athletic trainer. Dorvilien started his career with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005 as the team’s equipment manager and assistant athletic trainer. He spent six seasons with the Spurs organization, including the team’s NBA Championship campaign in 2006-07. During his time in San Antonio, Dorvilien also served as the head athletic trainer and strength coach for the Austin Toros (now Austin Spurs) during their 2011-12 D-League Championship season.

A native of the Bahamas, Nixon received a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Park University before earning his master’s degree from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 2004. After completing his education, Dorvilien served one year as the Red Raiders’ athletic trainer for track and field, winning the men’s Big 12 championship, before joining the Spurs.

Jazz sign Quincy Ford

The Jazz today signed forward/guard Quincy Ford.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, “on a deal that comes with a partial guarantee of $75,000, Ford, a 6-foot-8 small forward out of Northeastern, will attend training camp, which starts on September 27th, and is expected to be on the Salt Lake City Stars roster, Utah’s D-League affiliate.”

The 6-8, 225 Ford played in 130 games over five seasons at Northeastern University from 2011-16, and averaged 12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals in 31.9 minutes per game. As a senior at Northeastern, Ford averaged 16.4 points, a team-high 7.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals in 34.8 minutes in 29 contests.

The 23-year-old was a member of the Jazz summer league squad at the 2016 Utah Jazz Summer League (July 4-7) and Vegas Summer League (July 8-15), averaging 5.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 19.0 minutes of action in eight games (five starts).

Born in St. Petersburg, Fla., Ford played high school basketball at Gibbs High School.

He will wear jersey #17 for the Jazz.

Jazz waive Kendall Marshall

That was quick. The Jazz have waived guard Kendall Marshall, whose rights were acquired by trade from Philadelphia on Friday.

Marshall (6-4, 200, North Carolina) is a four-year NBA veteran who has appeared in 160 career games (57 starts) over four seasons with Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.