Recently waived Utah Jazz rookie Quincy Ford to join D-League affiliate SLC Stars

NBA Development League guru, and main man over at Upside and Motor, reported last night that Quincy Ford has bounced back pretty quickly. The forward went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft, and was scooped up by the Utah Jazz. GM Dennis Lindsey and the rest of the scouting department had their eye on the Northerastern product for a while. He went from being a pre-draft workout to making their Summer League team and earning a spot in training camp. Yesterday he was waived, along with draft pick Marcus Paige and veteran banger Eric Dawson. (Story here.) Personally, I lamented the decision but understood it.

And that didn’t take long!

I think this is fantastic because ford is EXACTLY what you want on your D-League team. He’s a more serious potential NBA player than J.J. O’Brien was (even though there are some similarities between the two — namely being four year college guys who went undrafted that have/had the potential to be 3 and D players down the road). Ford is taller, longer, more athletic, younger, and has the ability to cause havoc on the floor. In a good way.

And speaking of Ford, it was a whirlwind last few days for him as well:

And then after getting waived:

How do you NOT root for this kid? Impossible!

Ford is going to get a chance to show what he can do with the NBA D-League’s Salt Lake City Stars. He’ll have the ball in his hand as Head Coach Cooper is going to run Quin Snyder’s offense (or so we would believe). That means having a forward who can handle the ball and space the floor on the court. (See: Gordon Hayward, Rodney Hood)

And if you watch the D-League, and I know I will be, we’re going to see a lot of Ford this year. I can’t wait! I’m so happy the Jazz are keeping this talented young man in their system. I’m more happy for me. I’m a Ford fan, and I’m Jazzed that he’s going to be a part of the teams I root for.

EDIT: Also, of note, it’s very likely that Marcus Paige is going to be joining him.

Well, in my opinion, Euro draft and stashes are only worth so much if they don’t ever make it to the NBA. The Jazz know this better than most others because of Ante Tomic, Tadija Dragicevic, and others.