Kyle Filipowski was a first-round talent who fell to the second round of the NBA draft, but the Jazz are going to pay him like a first-round pick.
Utah used the rest of its cap space to sign Filipowski to a four-year, $12 million contract, a signing the team announced. This is the largest contract for a second-round player in a couple of years and is equivalent to what the No. 22 pick in the draft would be guaranteed, reports Bobby Marks of ESPN. The first two years of the contract are guaranteed, the third is non-guaranteed, and the fourth is a team option.
Filipowski is a stretch big who improved as Summer League went along. In Las Vegas, he was scoreless in his first game and had four points in the second, but he put up 20 and 26 in his last two games there (with 11 rebounds in the second one) as he started to find his space at that level.
Expect the same during the NBA season. Filipowski should start to grow into his role. He will have to earn frontcourt minutes on a team with John Collins, Walker Kessler, and Drew Eubanks at the five, plus Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh in the frontcourt.
Filipowski fits with the Jazz and the way the NBA game is evolving. He can shoot the 3, shows some handle, moves his feet well on defense and projects as a backup big in the NBA.
