With the 2022-23 NBA season winding down, teams are shutting down some of their core players and turning to other options for production.
Many teams utilize 10-day contracts around this time of the year and that is exactly what the Utah Jazz are doing with Luka Samanic, as the former first-round pick recently signed a 10-day contract with Utah.
Drafted 19th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in 2019, the Croatian forward could never find his foot with the Spurs and was waived following his second season in the league.
From there, Samanic went on to sign a two-way contract with the New York Knicks in October 2021. He was waived in March before the conclusion of the 2021-22 season and after never appearing in a game for the Knicks.
Luka Samanic then went on to sign a a deal with the Boston Celtics this past offseason and was waived before the start of the 2022-23 season, joining the Maine Celtics in the NBA G League.
Appearing in 27 games for the Maine Celtics, the G League affiliates of the Boston Celtics, Samanic averaged 22.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 29.4 minutes per contest.
In his two seasons with the Spurs earlier in his professional career, the 23-year-old forward averaged 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in about 9.9 minutes per game.
Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton and Rudy Gay are all injured for Utah right now and with Simone Fontecchio listed as "day-to-day," the Jazz are adding Luka Samanic for added depth at their forward positions.
With seven games left on their schedule, the Jazz currently find themselves two full games back of the Play-In Tournament region of the Western Conference standings.
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