{"id":90131,"date":"2024-08-13T01:05:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T05:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=90131"},"modified":"2024-08-13T01:05:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T05:05:28","slug":"jazz-sign-sophomore-center-to-two-way-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/13\/jazz-sign-sophomore-center-to-two-way-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazz Sign Sophomore Center to Two-Way Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Jazz recently signed Pacers center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tshieos01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oscar Tshiebwe<\/a> on a two-way deal. Tshiebwe played with the Indiana&#8217;s G League team last season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We have signed forward Oscar Tshiebwe to a two-way contract \u270d\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>\ud835\ude73\ud835\ude74\ud835\ude83\ud835\ude70\ud835\ude78\ud835\ude7b\ud835\ude82 \ud83d\udd17 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SKubmfgVX2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/SKubmfgVX2<\/a><a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TakeNote?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TakeNote<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X87Es5GALc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/X87Es5GALc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/utahjazz\/status\/1823140769693303088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Jazz Sign Oscar Tshiebwe to Two-Way Deal<\/h2>\n<p>According to the Utah Jazz&#8217;s recent press release, the Jazz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/jazz\/news\/utah-jazz-sign-oscar-tshiebwe-to-two-way-contract\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">signed<\/a> ex-Pacers big <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/gleague\/players\/t\/tshieos01d.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oscar Tshiebwe<\/a> to a two-way deal. Tshiebwe averaged 16.2 points and 16 rebounds per game over 23 regular seasons with the Pacers&#8217; G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The move came after the Jazz <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/rumor\/jazz-waive-taevion-kinsey\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">waived<\/a> Marshall alum <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kinseta02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taevion Kinsey<\/a>, who occupied the Jazz&#8217;s last two-way slot. Tshiebwe joins fourth-year big <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pottemi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Micah Potter<\/a> and fourth-year guard <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/prestja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Preston<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tshiebwe, who joined the Pacers last season on a two-way deal after going undrafted, has impressed with the Mad Ants. Tshiebwe played in the NBA&#8217;s Rising Stars Challenge, was named the G League Rookie of the Year, and earned G-League first-team honors. The Kentucky alum also made eight appearances with the Pacers, recording a season-high eight points against the Bucks in December.<\/p>\n<p>Tshiebwe played with the Pacers&#8217; Summer League squad in July, averaging 11.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Although the Pacers offered a two-way deal to Tshiebwe to stay in Fort Wayne for the 2024\/25 season, the Pacers filled all three two-way slots by signing rookie forward <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/freemen01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Enrique Freeman<\/a>. Tshiebwe accepted a two-way deal with Jazz that will see him bounce between the Jazz and the Salt Lake City Stars.<\/p>\n<h3>Tshiebwe Brings Size and Rebounding to the Jazz<\/h3>\n<p>Simply put, Tshiebwe was objectively the G League&#8217;s most dominant big, if not the league&#8217;s most dominant player. Tshiebwe physically dwarfs his contemporaries &#8212; a wrecking ball swinging in full force. We saw it at Kentucky, where scouts praised his strong hands, 7-foot-3 wingspan, and compact frame. Tshiebwe has carried his physical intensity to the pros, where he averaged 16 (!!) rebounds per game &#8212; an all-time G League record. He has a soft touch around the rim, and he&#8217;s near a brick wall on defense. If you&#8217;re looking for centers in the vein of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/drumman01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andre Drummond<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/adamsst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Adams<\/a>, Tshiebwe is a decent alternative.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, despite his sheer dominance in the interior, Tshiebwe comes off as handicapped away from the rim. His first major knock against him is his size &#8212; he stands at a relatively short 6-foot-8. In a league filled with similarly physically adept bigs, Tshiebwe&#8217;s height could hurt him.<\/p>\n<p>His second major deficiency is his inability to make an impact outside of the rim. He&#8217;s not stellar in pick-and-roll situations due to his lack of agility. His three-point shoot is near nonexistent, and although he has a solid midrange jumper, Tshiebwe won&#8217;t get to use it often in a modern NBA offense.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of his faults, he could see some game time with the Jazz. The Jazz will likely have to rely on <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kesslwa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Walker Kessler<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/eubandr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Eubanks<\/a> to fill up minutes at the five, with the likes of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/collijo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Collins<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/filipky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Filipowski<\/a> potentially <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/07\/jazz-hammer-out-lauri-markkanen-contract-details\/\" target=\"_self\">slotting<\/a> in at center from time to time. Considering Tshiebwe&#8217;s success in Indy, he could be a perfect third-string center for the Jazz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Jazz recently signed Pacers center Oscar Tshiebwe on a two-way deal. Tshiebwe played with the Indiana&#8217;s G League team last season. We have signed forward Oscar Tshiebwe to a two-way contract \u270d\ufe0f \ud835\ude73\ud835\ude74\ud835\ude83\ud835\ude70\ud835\ude78\ud835\ude7b\ud835\ude82 \ud83d\udd17 https:\/\/t.co\/SKubmfgVX2#TakeNote pic.twitter.com\/X87Es5GALc \u2014 Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) August 12, 2024 Jazz Sign Oscar Tshiebwe to Two-Way Deal According to the Utah [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5105,"featured_media":90168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,11,3,24],"tags":[2763,4486],"class_list":["post-90131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-pacers","category-news","category-jazz","tag-kentucky","tag-oscar-tshiebwe"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}