The Utah Jazz aren't exactly renowned for their ability to lure big fish to Salt Lake City. The players with the potential to alter the path of a franchise tend to look towards the bigger teams, but that doesn't mean those in smaller markets can't find a few diamonds in the rough, or fill holes through free agency. The Jazz have done that on numerous occasions throughout their near 50-year existence, and headlined by a couple of big moves in 2004, these are 10 of the best free agency signings they've ever made.
10. Joe Johnson (2016)
By the time Joe Johnson signed with the Jazz, he was 15 years into his illustrious NBA career and a long way past his best. Still, Iso Joe had his moments in Utah, in particular during the first of his one-and-a-half seasons there in which he averaged 9.2 points in around 23 minutes and shot over 41% from long-range. On a young team, Johnson's experience was pivotal in their first round win over the Clippers, and a game-winner in the opening game of that series proved the difference as the Jazz won in seven games. Johnson's time with the Jazz was a long way from the best of his career, but he still had his moments.
9. Allan Bristow (1979)
Allan Bristow didn't spent long in Utah, signing with them in 1979 before leaving for Dallas a couple of seasons later for the last two years of his career. But he was a relatively productive in his two seasons in Salt Lake City – the first two the Jazz spent there after relocating from New Orleans. On a struggling team, he played every game during his time there, doing a little bit of everything and averaging a solid 10.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists
8. Howard Eisley (1995)
Howard Eisley had a couple of stints in Utah, but it was the first which was comfortably the better of the two. Signing with the Jazz in 1995, he would go on to play five seasons with the franchise during a period in which they were consistently finishing in the top four in the Western Conference and in which they twice made the NBA Finals. He never had a chance to be anything more than a back-up point guard with a guy by the name of John Stockton running around, but he proved to be a reliable player to turn to off the bench, his best numbers coming in 1999-2000 – his final season of this stretch with the Jazz – when he averaged 8.6 points and 4.2 assists in a little over 25 minutes per game.
7. Raja Bell (2003)
Raja Bell signed with the Jazz as a free agent on two separate occasions, but it was the first which yielded the most productive period for the tenacious defender. Bell's first season with the Jazz was the fourth of his career and one of significant improvement, with his minutes per game jumping up from 15.6 in his solitary season with the Mavericks up to 24.6 in Utah, while the year after that number was bumped up again to 28.4. He averaged nearly 12 points and three rebounds in those two seasons and also shot just under 40% from three-point range, while also having the defensive impact for which he became so renowned throughout the course of his career.
6. Jeff Wilkins (1980)
Jeff Wilkins was initially signed in 1977 but didn't play a solitary game in the NBA until three seasons later when he was signed by Utah. That turned out to be an excellent move by the Jazz, because he would go on to play five solid seasons with the team during a period in which they dragged themselves out of the doldrums to become a consistent, 40+ win team. Wilkins didn't set the box score alight, but he was a solid scorer and rebounder, his most productive season coming in 1982-93 when he averaged 11.5 points and 7.4 boards per game.
5. Matt Harpring (2002)
After never averaging more than 12 points per game in the first four seasons of his career, Matt Harpring's signing with the Jazz in 2002 proved to be a great move for both player and team. He immediately embraced – and was embraced by – the franchise, and saw immediate rewards for his gritty style of play with a career-year which saw him average 17.6 points – shooting over 50% from the field and 40% from three – and 6.6 boards in his first season in Utah. The next couple of seasons saw similar numbers as he became a reliable soldier for head coach Jerry Sloan, and though his minutes and production dwindled by the year for the remaining four seasons of his career, he remains one of the better free agency signings the team has ever had.
4. Bojan Bogdanovic (2019)
Bojan Bogdanovic was five seasons into his NBA career when he signed with the Jazz and had already shown his wares as an elite outside shooter, and Utah got exactly what was advertized when he joined the team. Bogey, as he is affectionately known, averaged 20.2 points and shot 41.2% from long-range in his first season, and though they were the best numbers of his three-season career in Utah, his second and third were not manifestly different to his first. He was a key piece of Quin Snyder's machine in a team that consistently pushed 50 wins, playing an important role behind the more lauded members of that starting five like Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.
3. Rickey Green (1980)
Now we're really getting to the good stuff. Rickey Green was a brilliant pick-up for the Jazz, and few could have predicted the impact he would have on the team when he was signed in 1980. That signing came after he'd played two very unremarkable seasons on first the Warriors and then the Pistons, before not playing at all in 1979-80. He averaged 9.0 points and 5.0 assists in his first season with the team, 14.8 points and 7.8 assists in his second, and would go on to average at least that many and up to 9.2 dimes per game over the next three seasons. Green spent eight years in Utah in total during a period which included an All-Star appearance in 1984, and went down as one of the best point guards the Jazz have ever had – not bad considering the expectations which surrounded him when he was initially signed.
2. Mehmet Okur (2004)
2004 was some year for the Jazz when it came to free agency signings. Okur was one of them – he joined after two seasons with the Pistons in which he'd averaged under 10 points and six boards playing as a back-up center, but with an increased load in Utah he flourished. He averaged 12.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in his first season there and then 18.0, 9.1 and 2.4 assists the next, and despite those impressive numbers the elite outside shooting which he would go on to display thereafter had not even begun to show itself. Over his final four seasons with the Jazz, he shot over 38% from long range each season, was an All-Star in 2007, and proved himself to be a better free agency signing than virtually every other in Jazz history with the exception of a man who was signed the same year as he was.
1. Carlos Boozer (2004)
Carlos Boozer's career with the Jazz wasn't without its issues, namely his tendency to get injury and his defensive shortcomings. But despite those factors, there is no denying that Boozer was the best free agent that the Jazz have ever signed. He signed alongside Okur in the summer of 2004 after averaging a 15-point double-double in just the second season of his career in Cleveland, and he would only get better from there. Making for a lethal frontcourt alongside Okur, Boozer was a scoring and rebounding machine, twice averaging a 20-point double-double during his six seasons in Utah and going very close a third time. Those two seasons both yielded All-Star appearances, while he was also voted All-NBA in 2007-08 for his excellent season on a 54-win team. Unfortunately, during he and Okur's tenure the Jazz never made it out of the Western Conference, but they went close a couple of times and Boozer was a major reason why.