Utah Jazz: Complete 2017 offseason grades
By Adam Coffman
Out of nowhere: Royce O’Neale
Just prior to the Jazz’s signing of Royce O’Neale, many fans and pundits around the league thought their free agency period to be complete. Their roster sat at the regular season maximum of 15 contracts for next season, and with no discernible depth chart holes, there wasn’t a clear reason to add another player.
However, add a player is exactly what Dennis Lindsey did, plucking O’Neale off of the New Orleans Pelicans’ summer squad. A former Baylor Bear who spent the last two winters in Spain in Germany, O’Neale averaged 4.6 points per game over five games in Las Vegas.
With only the first season of his three-year contract guaranteed, there’s a good chance that he’ll have to show management a lot in order to stick with the team for the following year.
Still though, that doesn’t explain his being signed in the first place. Although O’Neale can play a host of positions (likely 2-4, due to his solid 215 pound frame), his NBA body of work is lacking.
He might have been better served on a two-way contract, especially as his presence means the team will have to release one other player. Maybe the front office knows something we don’t, but at the moment, this looks like a confusing decision.
Grade: D-