Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Eighteen NBA free agents came to Salt Lake City with the hopes of continuing their careers.
The Utah Jazz are hosting a two-day free agent mini-camp at Zions Bank Basketball Campus — it began Tuesday and ends on Wednesday — that features a mix of NBA vets, G League hopefuls, and some in between.
The franchise has regularly done these camps in the past — and even discovered now-long time starter Royce O'Neale at one of them — but with the Jazz void of draft picks, this year's edition seemed more pressing.
"We need to find guys at the end of the roster who can contribute," Jazz Vice President of Pro Personnel Bart Taylor said. "A lot of them played in the NBA; some were some of the best G League players. We need to find those guys that can come in and be at the end of the roster and contribute."
Sounds simple enough.
Of the 18 players, 11 of them have some NBA experience, including Allen Crabbe, Wes Iwundu, Tyler Johnson, T.J. Leaf and Pat McCaw, who appeared in over 100 NBA games during their pro careers.
There isn't a real mystery among the group (13 of the players made appearances in the NBA G League during the 2021-22 season), but there is a benefit to seeing them up close and running them through workouts.
"What we're looking for, really, is their competitiveness and how hard they play, how they pick up concepts. Getting to know them up close and in-person," said Taylor, who doubles as the Salt Lake City Stars general manager. "You can watch guys with another team and see how they play, and you can like them or not like them, but when they're in your building and you're able to touch them and coach them and really get a feel for how they interact with other teammates, how they interact with coaches, how they pick things up, that's a really big piece for us in our evaluation."
And players at the point of their careers where they need a free agent mini camp are eager to show up. Taylor said that Quin Snyder's track record for developing role players — O'Neale, Joe Ingles, Jordan Clarkson — makes it easy to get guys to show up to an early off-season camp.
"They want to come here because they know this is a place where they can get better," said Taylor.
The Jazz are hoping they can find a mutually beneficial relationship with at least one player. It's no surprise then that 13 members of the group can be considered wings and may potentially help Utah's lack of size on the perimeter.
When asked specifically about that, Taylor side-stepped the question a bit, but did say the team is "always looking for long arms who can play on the wing" before adding that "it's something that we look for, so it has shown up in this group."
None of the players were available to the media.
Utah Jazz mini-camp roster:
Derrick Alston Jr: 6-9 wing; 24 years old; has appeared in zero NBA games. The former Boise State wing averaged 19.6 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Salt Lake City Stars last season.
Allen Crabbe: 6-5 wing, 30 years old; has appeared in 381 career NBA games over seven seasons. Crabbe last played in the NBA during the 2019-20 season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. A once-full-time starter in Brooklyn, Crabbe is a career 39% 3-point shooter
Kevon Harris: 6-6 wing; 24 years old; has appeared in zero NBA games. The former Stephen F. Austin wing averaged 15.1 points and 5.7 rebounds in the G League last season for Raptors 905.
Aaron Henry: 6-6 wing; 22 years old; appeared in six games for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2021-22. Henry averaged 13.2 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Delaware Hens of the G League last season.
Wes Iwundu: 6-6 wing; 27 years old; has played in 226 NBA games. Iwundu is trying to find his place back in the NBA after only playing three games last season. The former second-round pick played 182 games over three seasons for the Magic before bouncing around to the Mavericks, Pelicans and Hawks.
Alize Johnson: 6-7 wing; 26 years old; has played in 72 career NBA games. Johnson played sparingly with the Bulls, Pelicans, and Wizards last season.
Tyler Johnson: 6-3 guard; 30 years old; has appeared in 354 career NBA games over his eight-year career. Johnson was a rotation piece during his days in Miami, Phoenix and Brooklyn; last season, however, he only was able to sign a couple 10-day deals.
Carlik Jones: 6-1 guard; 24 years old; has appeared in five games for the Mavericks and Nuggets last season. Jones averaged 20.2 points in 10 games with the G League's Texas Legends last season.
Tyrique Jones: 6-9 wing; 25 years old; has played in zero NBA games. The former Xavier Musketeer has played overseas in South Korea, Israel, and Italy.
Louis King: 6-7 wing; 23 years old; has played in 26 NBA games over three seasons. King, a former five-star recruit that went undrafted after one season at Oregon, averaged 18.5 points on 41% 3-point shooting in six games in the G-League last season.
T.J. Leaf: 6-10 forward; 25 years old; has played in 146 career NBA games. The 2017 first-round pick fell out of the league and played in China last season.
Pat McCaw: 6-7 wing; 26 years old; has played in 199 career NBA games over five seasons. McCaw played a minor role on three championship teams to start his career (two with the Warriors, one with the Raptors) but didn't play in the NBA last season.
Isaiah Miller: 6-0 guard; 23 years old; has never played in an NBA game. Miller averaged 12.7 points and 4.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists for the G-League's Iowa Wolves.
Craig Randle II: 6-4 guard; has never played in an NBA game. Randle put up 26.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the G-League last season.
Chris Silva: 6-8 forward; 25 years old; has played in 69 career NBA games over three seasons. Silva averaged 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds in 12 games in the G-League last season.
Deividas Sirvydas: 6-8 wing; 21 years old; has played 23 career NBA games over two seasons. The youngest player at the Jazz minicamp, spent both of his first two seasons in the NBA with Detroit.
Justin Tillman: 6-8 wing; 26 years old; has never played in the NBA. The former Viginia Commonwealth player averaged 23.5 points, 11.6 rebounds last season in the G League.
Jared Wilson-Frame: 6-6 wing; 25 years old;has never played in the NBA. He averaged 17.0 points and 5.3 assists for the Salt Lake City Stars last season.
