On Friday night, Stanley Johnson publicly revealed his own fate, disclosing that he had been told he was being released by the Utah Jazz as part of their roster cutdowns.
On Saturday afternoon, the Jazz officially announced Johnson’s departure — plus those of veteran center Cody Zeller and, somewhat surprisingly, second-year guard Jared Butler.
The team’s roster now stands at the maximum-allowed 15 NBA contracts, plus a pair of two-way contracts.
While Zeller being cut was seen as a foregone conclusion, given that he was signed only to a nonguaranteed training camp deal, Butler’s release is a bit more controversial.
A year ago, the Jazz traded out of their first-round pick and into the second to select Butler, who had been the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after leading Baylor to the national championship. The 6-foot-3 guard had been considered a one-time consensus mid-first-round prospect, but he slid on draft night owing to questions about a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
He was ultimately cleared by doctors, but never could crack former coach Quin Snyder’s rotation in his rookie season — appearing in just 42 games, and averaging 3.8 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game, while shooting 40.4% from the field and just 31.8% from 3-point range.
With new coach Will Hardy in place for 2022-23, Butler (who was in the final year of his contract) hoped for a fresh start, but the trade that sent Rudy Gobert to the Timberwolves brought back multiple players capable of playing the guard position, thus making his pathway to a roster spot all the more difficult. The Donovan Mitchell trade to Cleveland brought back another undersized guard in Collin Sexton, too, further complicating matters.
With Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson now joined by Sexton, Malik Beasley, Talen Horton-Tucker, and wings Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Ochai Agbaji, and Leandro Bolmaro, suddenly Butler’s position was increasingly tenuous.
His rough performances in the SLC and Las Vegas summer leagues, respectively, followed by a lack of playing time in the team’s first couple of preseason games indicated his spot on the roster bubble; however, his quality play in the Jazz’s intra-squad scrimmage a week ago, and then again in Tuesday’s preseason loss to the Spurs (where he tallied 13 points, seven assists, seven rebounds, two steals, and one block) seemed to indicate that he might be the most talented of the players on the back end of the roster.
He expressed hopefulness about his future, having been given a more defined role.
“Last year, it was kind of like a fill the gap of what does a team need [role]. I mean, honestly, I didn’t get a lot of opportunity to kind of play long stints, so it’s kind of really hard to say what exactly they needed from me at different times,” Butler said. “But I think this year it’s getting guys organized, making sure we’re calling plays that fit the right scenario during the time of the game. And yeah, so it’s obviously just different.”
In the end, though, not different enough.
With Hardy showing an affinity for bigger lineups, and with Conley and Sexton firmly entrenched in the rotation (barring a trade for the former), Butler was in a precarious position. He had needed to show improved shooting, better command of the offense, and to eliminate his penchant for overdribbling.
Apparently, he did not show enough for the liking of the coaching staff and front office.
Hardy, asked early in training camp what he has seeing from Butler as a player, offered a somewhat tepid response that focused more on personality traits than on-court proclivities.
“He’s a really mature young player. His approach every day — he’s very professional about his process every single day, and he’s shown that consistently throughout open gym and the first [few] days of camp,” Hardy said. “He’s a serious young player, and takes a lot of pride in how he approaches every day. He’s really represented himself well throughout open gym and training camp.”
As for Zeller, he was always a long shot to make the team, coming off of several injury-riddled seasons, and on a nonguaranteed deal. He never posed a threat to starter Kelly Olynyk and rookie backup Walker Kessler, and the team opted to keep former first-round pick Udoka Azubuike as its third-string big man instead, thereby avoiding eating another guaranteed contract.
