We have a partial list of the summer league roster thanks to Ridiculous Upside (make sure to bookmark that page for updates),
Utah Jazz Summer League Roster
PG -Tyrese Rice
SG -
SF - Gordon Hayward, Demetris Nichols
PF - Jeremy Evans, Tadija Dragicevic
C - Rod Benson
Utah Jazz Summer League Schedule - 7/5 vs Charlotte, 7/6 vs Orlando, 7/7 vs Indiana, 7/8 vs New Jersey, 7/9 vs Philadelphia
Rice is a PG out of Boston College who went undrafted last season. He spend last year in the Greek league with Panionios.
Demetris Nichols was a second-round pick by the Blazers and has bounced around the league with the Cavs, Bulls, and Knicks. He'll also be in the Vegas summer league. He's a SF so I don't think his chances of making the Jazz are high, but given last year, you never know.
And finally, Mr. Rod Benson. Maybe his name doesn't ring a bell for you, but it should if you're up on the NBA blogsphere. Rod, aka Boom Tho, is probably known more for his blogging at BDL and his own site than for what he's done on the court. He's been a professional DLeaguer and has a had a contract with the Pacers.
I don't know if his blogging had hurt his chances at sticking with an NBA team. He's got size at 6' 10", 235. If he has an impressive summer league he might have a shot with the Jazz given our need and in the chance that Fesenko leaves.
Speaking of Fess, the Jazz will match for Fesenko this summer, given that the contract offer he receives isn't outrageous,
The Jazz evidently intend to stick with backup center Kyrylo Fesenko, a restricted free agent.
"It starts July 1. That's part of it," O'Connor said when asked how the Jazz, who were unable to land the power forward they wanted in Thursday's NBA Draft, go about finding a big guy now.
Even if the Jazz had drafted a big guy, it was likely that they were going to bring back Fess anyway. Given the current circumstances, I wouldn't say their hand is forced, but they might be willing to go a little higher for his services. I don't know what that cap is, but he's definitely worth a little more now.
The question is whether they'll wait for someone to make an offer like they have done in years past with Miles and Millsap or offer him a fair deal upfront. Fess and his agent may want to shop around though and see what they can get before taking an offer from the Jazz
I finally found Jeremy Evans' wingspan, and holy crap,
Apparently the training and versatility - along with a nearly 7-6 wingspan - was enough for Utah.
"It’s one of those things. He’s intriguing," Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor told reporters in Utah on Thursday. "There’s some things about him that you can’t teach."
He's 6' 9" (81 inches) and his wingspan is 90 inches. If you use Tom's (from HP) method of calculating what a person's wingspan should be, then Evans' would be at about 85.285 inches. That it a difference of 4.715. That puts him right near the top of Tom's list of players with arms longer than they should be. In addition, the first article mentions that he's put on about 7 lbs of muscle after training. So he just broke the Mendoza line in weight if you're keeping track at home.
Evans is the very definition of second-round flier because he could come in and do some big things but if it doesn't pan out there's not much lost. I think I'm going to be rooting for him a lot.
So here's our known roster for next season,
PG, Deron Williams, Ronnie Price
Wings, Wesley Matthews (likely), C.J. Miles, Gordon Hayward
PF/C, Mehmet Okur, Paul Millsap, Kosta Koufos, Andrei Kirilenko, Kyrylo Fesenko
I included Matthews and Fess because they're likely to get re-signed. At the very least, that leaves us needing 3 more bodies to get to the minimum of 13.
So who do you fill with those spots? We'll likely see a third PG with Sundiata Gaines. I'm guessing given Memo's state, we sign a free agent big man. Not sure who that would be yet.
That leaves one spot. Will that be Boozer's spot? Assuming the Jazz sign a FA big man, who are you going to put here? Another wing? Another PF/C?
Last, but by no means the least, Ross Siler will be leaving the Tribune as the Utah Jazz beat writer. I was tipped off by UtahJazzBlitz after he likely saw it announced on KSL.
I followed up with Ross to see what was up. He's indeed leaving effective the end of July to go into law school. It wasn't an easy decision for him by any means but he's putting his family first with this choice and that's very admirable.
I don't have to tell you just how good of a beat writer he is and how much Jazz fans will miss his inside information via his blog and tweets. There really aren't many, if any, better NBA beat writers out there. The best part of his writing was that he was highly objective while still providing the kind of information that Jazz fans would want to know if they were given the access that he has.
I'll have some more up on him later in the month.
I wish nothing but the best to Ross, his family, and their future.