Jazz to trade two-time NBA champion to Cavaliers

The Jazz have agreed to trade center Damian Jones to the Cavaliers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

It’s not yet clear what Utah will receive in the deal, but according to Wojnarowski, Cleveland is acquiring Jones without sending out a player of its own. That’s possible because the big man is in the second year of a two-year, minimum-salary contract, so his salary can be taken on using the minimum-salary exception.

Jones picked up his $2,586,665 player option for the 2023-24 season last week.

A former first-round pick, Jones signed with the Lakers last offseason after playing for five different teams in his first six NBA seasons, including three with the Warriors during two of their championship-winning seasons. Then he was sent to the Jazz in the three-team trade-deadline deal involving D’Angelo Russell, Russell Westbrook and Mike Conley.

Jones saw more regular playing time in Utah than he had in Los Angeles, averaging 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per contest in his 19 appearances for the Jazz. In total, he played in 41 regular-season games and averaged 3.5 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 11.6 MPG.

The Cavaliers have been active in the last 24 hours, but their moves have focused on the wing (Caris LeVert, Max Strus) and forward (Georges Niang) spots. Jones will provide some additional size in the frontcourt behind starting bigs Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.