After being released by the Utah Jazz earlier this offseason, former UCLA Bruin Johnny Juzang landed with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, signing on a one year non-guaranteed league minimum deal.
With the Jazz bringing in first round selection Ace Bailey, Juzang was expendable after Juzang averaged 8.9 points per game in 64 games with Utah last year. Utah finished last season 17-65 and now Juzang will join the division rival Timberwolves, who appeared in the Western Conference Finals before losing to the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
While perhaps the Jazz didn’t see Juzang’s value, one future Hall of Famer definitely does, with Kevin Durant giving Juzang some love in the comment sections of ESPN reporter’s Shams Charania’s post about Friday’s signing.
“Let’s go @jsilky,” Durant commented. “The work will speak for itself.”
Juzang will be entering his fourth year in the NBA after a memorable career as a Bruin. The forward tied the Final Four game against Gonzaga with less than five seconds to play before Jalen Suggs hit a halfcourt game winner to advance to the national title game. The Los Angeles native was named a third team All-American in his junior season before heading to the NBA, where he went undrafted in 2022 before signing with the Jazz.
He’s now appeared in 102 career NBA games, averaging 7.9 points per game with 2.5 rebounds while shooting 42.1% from the field and 36.3% from three. An every-game role in Minnesota is far from a certainty but Juzang will have a chance in training camp to earn a roster spot.