Good stuff from Dan Clayton:
End of roster stuff
While we’re talking about contract stuff, let’s talk about why the Jazz signed Kendall Pollard, adding a player when they’re just about 24 hours away from needing to reduce their roster to 15.
This one also comes down to weird roster math and obscure G-League rules.
An NBA team is allowed to keep 15 players on their active roster, plus have two on two-way contracts, plus claim G-League rights to as many as four training camp cuts. The problem is, those numbers add up to 21, and an NBA team can only have a roster of up to 20 at any point in the year.
That’s why the Jazz have cycled extra guys through their roster on non-guaranteed contracts this fall. And actually, since neither Bolomboy nor O’Neale can play for the Stars this season, the Jazz actually needed to cycle through 22 players to make full use of the four affiliate spots.
They already waived Tyler Braun so they could sign Torian Graham. Then they waived Graham and signed Pollard. That’s in addition to guard Naz Mithrou-Long, who was in camp on a non-guaranteed contract all along. Those four can now be claimed by the Stars as affiliate players. Along with two-way players Nate Wolters and Eric Griffin, the Stars have a pretty good start to their 2017-18 roster.
Had they not done this last-minute maneuvering, there’s no guarantee they would have been able to acquire Graham or Pollard for the Stars. When players who don’t have affiliate relationships or returning G-League rights sign the standard contract, their rights are assigned through the G-League draft. So this bit of musical chairs by the Jazz ensures that they get these players they like without having to sweat the draft process. A few other teams have been maneuvering similarly to stock their G-League teams, and it’s a good sign of just how seriously the Jazz take the Stars and want them to be a quality extension of their program.
