According to Jake Fischer on the latest Stein Line, the Utah Jazz plan to keep Georges Niang.
From Fischer:
Sources say Utah plans to keep veteran big man Georges Niang after reacquiring Niang this week in a trade with Boston.
The Jazz also acquired second-round picks from the Celtics in 2027 and 2031 in the trade that sent two-way guard RJ Luis to Boston.
The Celtics discussed trading Niang with various teams around the league, sources say, in their continued salary-shaving campaign following the luxury-tax-slashing trades that shipped out Jrue Holiday and Porziņģis.
Not a big surprise considering Niang has a contract that expires after next season. It’s the trend that fits everything the Jazz have been doing this offseason. Almost every player the Jazz have gotten back in trades have an expiring contract that falls off the books next season, including: Jusuf Nurkic, Georges Niang, and Kevin Love. The only one that doesn’t is Kyle Anderson, who will have about $9M on the last year of his contract. That leaves Utah with Lauri Markkanen as the only veteran they may hold onto long-term. The rest of the roster will be young prospects with four or fewer seasons on the books. It leaves the Jazz able to build the right way, a scenario that has taken them a long time to get to.