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NBA Rumors: Utah Jazz claim Erik Murphy

By Andrew Melnick

Oct 18, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Luis Scola fights for a ball against Chicago Bulls forward Erik Murphy and guard Mike James at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Luis Scola fights for a ball against Chicago Bulls forward Erik Murphy and guard Mike James at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 18, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Luis Scola fights for a ball against Chicago Bulls forward Erik Murphy and guard Mike James at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Luis Scola fights for a ball against Chicago Bulls forward Erik Murphy and guard Mike James at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports /

The Chicago Bulls surprisingly cut ties with rookie forward Erik Murphy earlier in the week.

The move was likely made because Murphy has a partially guaranteed contract for the 2014-15 season and the Bulls are trying to stay under the luxury tax (which is one reason they traded Luol Deng) despite having several big contracts (Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah). If a team claims Murphy, the Bulls will have a much easier time staying under the task.

The Milwaukee Bucks had interest in Murphy, but according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, it is the Utah Jazz that have claimed the former Florida Gators’ star.

Murphy, who the Bulls selected with the 49th overall pick in the second round of last summer’s draft is very low paid and is a talented shooter, so the move is very low risk with the potential for some sort of reward.

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