Category: Utah Jazz Blog

Utah Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey announced today that the team has waived forward Darnell Jackson and guard Chris Quinn.  Following the moves, Utah’s roster now stands at 15 players.  Utah opens the regular season on October 31 at EnergySolutions Arena when the team will host the Dallas Mavericks at 7 p.m. (ROOT, 1280 AM/97.5 FM).

Jackson (6-9, 265, Kansas) appeared in six preseason games for Utah, averaging 1.7 points in 5.7 minutes per game.  Quinn (6-2, 175, Notre Dame) played in five preseason contests, averaging 1.8 points and 1.4 assists in 6.0 minutes.

The Utah Jazz will be without Paul Millsap and Jamaal Tinsley for tonight’s preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The players have been excused from the team to attend to unrelated personal matters. The team did not announce when either will return or why they are absent.

Millsap is traveling to Louisiana to attend the funeral of his paternal grandmother, a source confirmed. The funeral is on Saturday, meaning Millsap will also miss the Jazz’s road game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday at Staples Center.

— Reported by Jody Genessy of the Deseret News

Foye, a 6-foot-4 guard who signed with the Jazz as a free agent in late July, had heard plenty of good things about Utah’s franchise before he came here. And although he’s only been a member of the organization for a couple of months now, the six-year NBA veteran certainly likes what he has seen so far.

“Oh, man, first class, first class, everything is run first class from the top to the bottom,” Foye said Friday morning prior to the fourth day of training camp at Zions Bank Basketball Center. “Everyone is held accountable, no matter who you are. Everyone comes in every day and works hard. This organization is first-class, blue-collar, hard-working guys.

“You know, you hear things about organizations around the league and you always hear ‘Utah Jazz, everything is run first class; everything is done this way.’ And you say, well, they said that about another organization, and I went there and it wasn’t. All those stories that were floating around the league are true here — all the good things.”

— Reported by Randy Hollis of the Deseret News

Utah Jazz legends Karl Malone and John Stockton will join former BYU athletes Richard George, Chad Lewis and Doug Padilla next month in being inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.

The Oct. 23 event at EnergySolutions Arena includes a 6 p.m. reception and 7 p.m. dinner. For reservations ($75), send checks or credit card information to the USHOFF, P.O. Box 95982, South Jordan 84095.

Malone and Stockton were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in consecutive years.

— Reported by the Deseret News

Veteran Jazz guard Raja Bell told a Miami-area radio station Friday he’ll undergo a physical Monday in Salt Lake City.

Utah has yet to resolve a buyout with Bell, who is not expected to play for the Jazz during the 2012-13 season…

A buyout has been on the table since at least July, and Bell’s separation from the Jazz has long been expected. But while the chances of him attending camp are slim, at best, it’s recently become a remote possibility, since just eight days remain before Jazz media day and there’s been no recent progress between the sides.

Bell is in the final year of his contract with Utah and is set to make $3.5 million this season. The amount of the buyout has prevented the Jazz from removing Bell from the roster, and Utah has thus far been unable to trade him.

— Reported by Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune

Veteran forward Trey Gilder is expected to compete for a roster spot during the Jazz’s upcoming training camp, The Salt Lake Tribune learned on Wednesday.

Utah’s regular-season roster is currently set at 15 players entering camp, which is the maximum allowed by the NBA once the regular season begins.

Veteran guard Raja Bell isn’t expected play for the team or participate during camp, though, and his long-delayed buyout with the Jazz has yet to be resolved.

— Reported by Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed second-round draft pick Kevin Murphy.

The 6-7, 185-pound guard out of Tennessee Tech was selected 47th overall by the Jazz in the 2012 NBA Draft.  In five games (two starts) for the Jazz entry in the 2012 Orlando Pro Summer League, Murphy averaged 8.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 23 minutes of action.

A native of Atlanta, Ga., Murphy amassed 2,019 points, 535 rebounds and 248 assists in four years at Tennessee Tech.  During his senior season in 2011-12, he averaged 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 34.5 minutes.

Murphy, who ranks second all-time at Tennessee Tech in scoring, was twice named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) First Team (2011, 2012) as well as the OVC All-Tournament Team (2011, 2012).  Following his freshman season, he was named to the 2009 OVC All-New Comer Team.

The Utah Jazz announced today that Michael Sanders has been promoted to an assistant coach on Tyrone Corbin’s staff, after having spent the 2011-12 season as assistant coach/player development.  In a related move, the Jazz has also agreed in principle with veteran NBA Development League coach, and former Jazz scout, Brad Jones to assume Sanders’ previous position as assistant coach/player development.

“Moving Mike from player development to the bench is a promotion that he has earned.  His strong work ethic and skillset, coupled with his experience as a former player and coach in the NBA and D-League, has proven to be valuable to our franchise and I look forward to working with him closer in his enhanced role,” said Utah Jazz Head Coach Tyrone Corbin.  “Brad is a well-respected and recognized young coaching talent with a proven track-record of player development.  We are very happy to be bringing him back to the Jazz family.”

A veteran of the coaching ranks, Sanders recently completed his first season with the Jazz and has previously served as an assistant coach in the NBA for Detroit, Milwaukee and Charlotte.  He originally began his coaching career in 1998 as an assistant coach with the Wisconsin Blast of the International Basketball Association (IBA) before becoming head coach of the IBA’s Black Hills Gold for the 1999-2000 season.  In 2000-01 he then became head coach of the United States Basketball League (USBL)’s Washington Congressionals.  In 2000-01 Sanders joined the Detroit Pistons an assistant coach.

The following season he joined the D-League’s Asheville Altitude, where he would spend four years as an assistant coach and director of player personnel, helping to lead the franchise to D-League championships in 2004 and 2005.  During his time with the Altitude, Sanders also spent three offseasons with the USBL’s Adirondack Wildcats as the team’s head coach (2002-2004).  In 2005, Sanders returned to the NBA, joining the Milwaukee Bucks staff as an assistant coach for two seasons.  He then served as an assistant coach and advance scout with the Charlotte Bobcats for the 2007-08 campaign.

Prior to his coaching career, Sanders played 11 seasons in the NBA for four teams – San Antonio (1982-83), Phoenix (1983-88), Cleveland (1987-89, ’91-93) and Indiana (1989-92).  Originally selected in the fourth round (74th overall) of the 1982 NBA Draft by the Kansas City Kings, Sanders appeared in 648 career games (209 starts) and averaged 8.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 19.1 minutes.

Jones returns to the Jazz after spending the previous two seasons as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs-owned Austin Toros of the D-League.  Jones led the Toros to a D-League Championship this past season, defeating the L.A. D-Fenders two games to one in the D-League Finals.

Prior to his time with the Toros, Jones previously spent three seasons as the original head coach of the D-League’s Utah Flash (2007-10).  As a D-League expansion team, the Flash enjoyed a successful inaugural campaign under Jones finishing the 2007-08 season with a 24-26 mark.  A year later the Jones guided the Flash to a 32-18 record and advanced them to the 2009 D-League Finals.  The Flash posted a 28-22 record in 2009-10, making a second straight playoff appearance.

During his five-year D-League coaching career, Jones had eight different players under his tutelage called-up up to the NBA a total of 13 times, and also had 12 different NBA players assigned by their respective teams to work with him on a total of 14 D-League assignments.

Prior to joining the Flash, Jones served as a regional scout for the Utah Jazz for six years (2001-2007).  Jones also served as the head coach at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn., from 1995-2001.  During his tenure at the helm of the Eagles he was twice named the Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year and led the school to a pair of conference championships.