From the airport to the team, Shaq Harrison likes what he sees in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder said when you watch Shaquille Harrison play "it jumps out at you that he can defend."

Donovan Mitchell thought back to some painful memories of being guarded by him.

Those were among the first reactions the Jazz had to their new guard. Harrison's first reaction to Utah?

"When I first got here, the first thing I said to my mom was, 'this is a nice airport,'" Harrison said during his first media availability as a member of the Utah Jazz.

The airport may have been the first thing to catch his eye, but it wasn't the last.

The scenery?' "I'm not used to seeing mountains like this."

The practice facility? "Everything's outstanding."

The organization? "You can tell it is ran by really good people and everything is up to par."

Harrison also said he felt like he was a "great fit" for the Jazz and how they want to play. The Jazz are hoping he can help with the team's at-time porous perimeter defense from last season.

"My goal is to come in and fill that void that they were missing," Harrison said. "You can't control making shots, you can't control the ball going in; there's gonna be some off days but you can come in and play hard every single day. "

Harrison, though, won't be ready to help immediately. The combo guard sustained a fracture in his hand during a pickup game training in the offseason. The fracture is expected to keep him out for at least the beginning of the season.

"I was cutting backdoor and actually James Harden was guarding me," Harrison said. "It happened so fast I'm not sure what body part (my hand) hit of his, but I was reaching towards the ball and my hand somehow got pinned back."

Harrison called it a "freak accident." He didn't even think anything was wrong until after the game and his hand swelled up. While he's not sure when he'll be able to take the court again, there has been some recent progress: For the last three days, he's been able to work out without a cast.

"My hand feels good; no pain in it," Harrison said. "And now it is taking it slow and making sure we do it the proper way so we don't have to start the process over if it gets broken again. We just want to make sure it's all solid and ready to go."

While he's not currently running through team workouts, he can still begin to learn Utah's complex system. His teammates know it won't be the easiest thing to do.

"I know the system like the back of my hand now but when you're coming into it there's terms and the language, and obviously the style of play," Joe Ingles said. "And Coach Q you just got to get used to."

Ingles knows a bit of what awaits Harrison — Ingles signed with the Jazz just days before the 2014-15 season — so he and the team will be trying to help their newest teammate along as best they can. Because the faster he gets things down and the hand heals, the faster opponents can be joining Mitchell in having some bad memories being guarding by him.

"Everything is different for him right now so it is tough," Ingles said. "Obviously, as you guys know, we've got a pretty, pretty good group of guys that are gonna help him and kind of assist as much as we can in making him feel as comfortable and welcome as possible."

Utah Jazz sign Trevon Bluiett

The Utah Jazz signed Trevon Bluiett on Friday, the team announced. The contract will be an Exhibit 10 deal, per multiple reports.

Bluiett appeared in 41 games with the Salt Lake City Stars last season, averaging 14.9 points on 48.7 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from three.

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