In a move to shed some salary from its books and get its roster down to 15 players, the Utah Jazz have traded journeyman center Damian Jones to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jones is due nearly $2.6 million in 2023-24, and according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Cavs are “simply absorbing” his salary. That means the Jazz are not getting any assets in return.
“The Jazz are trading center Damian Jones to the Cavaliers, sources tell ESPN. The Cavaliers are simply absorbing Jones' $2.6 million,” Woj wrote.
It's not surprising that the Jazz dealt away Damian Jones since they already have a loaded frontcourt featuring Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and the recently acquired John Collins from the Atlanta Hawks. By dumping Jones' salary, Utah got a little bit more cap space that it can use while exploring potential deals or trades this free agency.
As for the Cavs, Jones is expected to be a solid backup behind Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. While the 28-year-old hasn't stuck for long with teams ever since his three-year stint with the Golden State Warriors, he still has tremendous experience when it comes to playing in the postseason and the playoffs.
Jones actually won two NBA championships with the Warriors back in 2017 and 2018. Interestingly, both of those title wins came against the Cavs when LeBron James was still with the Wine and Gold.
The former Vanderbilt standout has career averages of 5.2 points and 3.4 rebounds on 66.2 percent shooting. He put up 3.5 points and 3.0 boards in 2022-23 after splitting his time with the Los Angeles Lakers and Jazz.
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