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The Utah Jazz have made some roster moves, with you know, 6 games left in the season. They report:
The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has claimed rookie forward Erik Murphy off waivers from Chicago. In a related move, the Jazz requested waivers on center Andris Biedrins. Per team policy, financial terms were not released.
Following the moves, the Jazz roster remains at 15 players.
The 23-year-old Murphy (6-10, 230, Florida) was waived by Chicago on April 3 after appearing in 24 games for the Bulls, averaging 2.6 minutes per contest. He was selected by Chicago in the second round (49th overall) of the 2013 NBA Draft.
Murphy played in 136 games (67 starts) over a four-year career at the University of Florida (2009-13), finishing with career averages of 7.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 18.3 minutes, shooting .514 from the field, .435 from three-point range and .757 from the line. As a senior in 2012-13, Murphy earned First Team All-SEC and AP Honorable Mention All-American accolades after posting 12.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.69 blocks and 0.64 steals in 26.4 minutes per game for the Gators. He also shot .516 from the floor, an SEC-leading .453 from deep (72-159 3FG) and .784 from the line. Murphy was named to the All-SEC Tournament team in both 2012 and 2013.
Born in Lyon, France, Murphy is the son of former NBA forward Jay Murphy (1984-88) and Finland national team player Paivi Murphy, and holds dual U.S. and Finnish citizenship.
Murphy will wear jersey No. 33 for the Jazz.
Biedrins (7-0, 250, Latvia) appeared in six games this season for Utah, averaging 0.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 7.4 minutes per game. He was acquired from Golden State as part of a three-team trade that also included Denver on July 10, 2013.
Yes. It's a sad day, but I'm glad that the Jazz, instead of making a commitment to play Rudy Gobert more, decided on bringing in another bigman. You know, I guess Murphy will get the same Jerel McNeal treatment where they make him work out all summer long, never play him, and then cut him. But it's a living.
I don't think the Jazz really have what it takes to win a title. But I would love to know what Beans' buy out was. I thought the Jazz didn't pay people not to play. That's what the PR people said about Raja Bell . . . and then we bought him out. But hey, this isn't Larry H. Miller's Jazz anymore, his Jazz teams used to try to win titles. These ones seem to make excuses for mediocrity.