The Utah Jazz find themselves in the midst of what has become a lost season. As a result, they made a few roster moves on Monday, notably waiving veteran forward Otto Porter Jr., according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

Porter, who had been a buyout candidate for various playoff-contending teams around the league, is no longer eligible to participate in the postseason with a new team since he was waived after the March 1 deadline. This decision to cut Porter now is a little puzzling for the Jazz, especially since it appeared as if he wanted no part of being with the Jazz after being dealt there at the trade deadline.

Even before news of the Jazz waiving Porter came out, Utah agreed to three-year contracts with a pair of young talents on the wing.

The Jazz agreed to new contracts with free agent forwards Darius Bazley and Kenneth Lofton Jr., according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Two players who have been searching for opportunities around the league, Bazely and Lofton now have a chance to earn a long-term roster spot in Utah. These signings come in the wake of Lauri Markkanen's recent quad injury, which could signal that the Jazz are shutting him down for the remainder of the season.

Bazley averaged 21 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the G League this season with the Delaware Blue Coats. Lofton has played for the Memphis Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers this season, averaging 2.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in roughly 6.4 minutes per game this season. In the G League, Lofton averaged 26.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in 11 total games with Delaware.

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While Bazley and Lofton will now join the Jazz on new three-year contracts, these deals come with a catch. The Jazz are protecting themselves from any long-term commitments by making these contracts non-guaranteed deals.

With under 20 games remaining, Utah now gets a sneak peek at whether they would like to keep Bazley and/or Lofton heading into the 2024-25 season.