Georges Niang was a player that stood out for the Jazz in Summer League, as he had done in the G-League the season before. In three games in the Utah Summer League, he showed himself to be a high IQ forward who was just in the right spot, plus he knew how to shoot the rock — he averaged 16.7 points a game and shot better than 50 percent in Utah. In Las Vegas, that “fell” to 15 points a game.
It impressed the Jazz enough that they are giving him a guaranteed contract for next season, the team announced Friday night. While the Jazz did not officially release the details, this was a minimum contract but Niang is going to be on the roster next season.
The first year of Georges Niang's contract is guaranteed, league sources tell The Salt Lake Tribune
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) July 14, 2018
Niang was a second-round pick of the Pacers back in 2016 (out of Iowa State) who has bounced around the G-League and NBA training camps for years, honing his game. He averaged 22 points a game for the Salt Lake Stars last season.
He primarily will play the four, where he’s not going to get a lot of run behind Derrick Favors and Jae Crowder, but kind of fills the Jonas Jerebko role of a big man who can shoot the rock and provide floor spacing off the bench.
It’s a good minimum contract for rounding out the roster by Utah.
