NBA Rumors: Utah Jazz pursuing Kent Bazemore
By Sam Richmond
The Utah Jazz are interested in signing shooting guard Kent Bazemore, according to Yahoo Sports’ Marc J. Spears.
The Jazz and Lakers free agent guard Kent Bazemore's camp have had some preliminary contract talks, a source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 2, 2014
Bazemore enjoyed the most success of his short NBA career after being shipped to the Los Angles Lakers in the middle of last season as a part of the trade that sent Steve Blake to the Golden State Warriors. Bazemore averaged 13.1 points (45.1 percent shooting from the field and 37.1 percent shooting from three), 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 23 appearances with the Lakers.
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The Lakers elected not to extend a qualifying offer to Bazemore following the season, but are believed to still have interest in bringing him back.
Bazemore also indicated to NBA.com in March that he would prefer to return and play with Kobe Bryant.
"Shoot, that would be a dream come true, and with the track record he has, the body of work he has, I would be all ears,” Bazemore said. “For a guy who’s been through everything he’s been through, playing half of his life in this league, winning multiple championships, why not listen? If I got to go against him every day, I know I’m not cheating myself, so I would look forward to it. In all honesty, I don’t think he’s that tough to play with. If he demands a lot, he just wants to be great. You can’t really knock that.”"
Still, the Lakers are pursuing bigger fish like Pau Gasol and Carmelo Anthony currently and, in turn, putting Bazemore on the backburner. There’s a strong possibility that Bazemore gets sick of waiting for L.A. and signs with the Jazz, or any of the other teams that are will show him interest.
For whomever he signs with, Bazemore represents a high-upside move. He’s just 25-years-old and the success he had last season with the Lakers would suggest he has a bright future in this league.
Bazemore was first signed by the Warriors in 2012 after he went undrafted. The guard saw limited minutes and averaged fewer than 2.5 points per game in 105 games with Golden State.