Utah Jazz Reportedly Waive Former Duke Star
Vernon Carey Jr. was the 32nd pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and has spent time playing for the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards over the previous three seasons.
In April, he signed with the Utah Jazz but did not appear in any games for the team.
On Friday, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported that the Jazz had waived Carey Jr.
Via Scotto: "The Utah Jazz have waived center Vernon Carey Jr, league sources told @hoopshype."
Carey Jr. was ranked (by ESPN) as the sixth-best player in the country coming out of high school in 2019.
He spent his one season of college basketball at Duke, where he averaged a sensational 17.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.6 blocks per contest while shooting 57.7% from the field and 38.1% from the three-point range in 31 games.
That said, the 22-year-old has been unable to get significant playing time in the NBA.
His career averages are 1.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per contest while playing 5.1 minutes (in 37 games).
In the G League, he has been able to put up substantial numbers, and this past season Carey Jr. averaged an excellent 20.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest while shooting 61.9% from the field in 14 regular season games.
Since he is still so young, there will likely be teams interested in signing him for training camp.
As for the Jazz, they are coming off a season where they were the 12th seed in the Western Conference with a 37-45 record.
