The Jazz have dealt 32-year old center Mehmet Okur to the New Jersey Nets for a future 2nd round pick and a trade exception.  Okur played in only 13 games (0 starts) last year for the Jazz and he averaged 12.9 minutes, 4.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  He played in 474 games (404 starts) in his seven years with the Jazz and he averaged 31.7 minutes, 15.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.  Okur finishes his career #4 in three pointers made with 517 in Jazz’ history.  He is also #9 in rebounds (3,599), #9 in blocked shots (346) and #9 in points (7,255) in Jazz’ history.  The Jazz did Okur a favor as he was going to be sitting behind Al Jefferson and rookie Enes Kanter in 2011-12.

The Utah Jazz have signed 31-year old small forward Josh Howard.  Howard played in 18 games (10 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 22.7 minutes, 8.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  He has now played in 453 games (381 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 31.2 minutes, 15.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  This was a good signing for the Jazz as they can certainly use some help at small forward.  If Howard is healthy, he might just bump C.J. Miles to the bench in 2011-12.

The Jazz have signed 33-year old point guard Jamaal Tinsley.  Tinsley last played in the NBA in 2009-10 with the Memphis Grizzlies.  Tinsley has played in 436 games (366 starts) in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 28.9 minutes, 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game.  Tinsley has only shot 39.5% from the floor in his career, which isn’t too good.  He will battle Earl Watson (and probably lose out to him) for the right to back up Devin Harris at point guard in 2011-12.

The Jazz have signed 32-year old shooting guard Kevin McLeod and 26-year old small forward Trey Gilder.  McLeod played for the Jazz back in 2004-05 and 2005-06.  McLeod last played in the NBA back in 2006-07 with the Golden State Warriors.  McLeod  has played in 200 games (88 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 18.6 minutes, 5.5 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.  McLeod has only shot 35.7% from the floor in his career so far, so he isn’t going to help the Jazz light up the scoreboard in 2011-12.  Trey Gilder’s only NBA action came back in 2009-10 with the Memphis Grizzlies.  He played in 2 games for the Grizzlies that year and he averaged 2.5 minutes, 1.0 point and 0.5 rebounds per game.  These guys will both be longshots to make the Jazz in 2011-12.

UPDATE:  (12/22/2011) – The Jazz have waived Kevin McLeod and Trey Gilder.

The Jazz have re-signed 32-year old point guard Earl Watson to a 2-year deal.  Watson played in 80 games (13 starts) for the Jazz last year and he averaged 19.6 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.  He has now played in 756 games (221 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 23.1 minutes, 7.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Watson is a solid backup point guard and he will give Devin Harris a break when he needs one.

The Utah Jazz are going to need a lot of help when the lockout is lifted.  They are going to need a small forward and a backup point guard for sure.  The Jazz could fill those needs in free agency or they could deal one of their extra bigs to make a deal go down.  Look for the Jazz to be really busy when the lockout is lifted.

The Utah Jazz have picked up 24-year old SG/SF C.J. Miles’ 2011-12 option valued at $3.7 million bucks.  Miles played in 78 games (19 starts) for the Jazz last year and he averaged 25.2 minutes, 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  Miles has now played in 333 games (145 starts) in his first six years with the Jazz and he is averaging 19.1 minutes, 8.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  This was a smart move for the Jazz as it will allow them to break in rookie Alec Burks slowly if needed.

The Jazz took 19-year old, 6’6″, 195 pound shooting guard Alec Burks with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft last night.  Burks played in 38 games for Colorado last year and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He played in 68 games in his two years in college and he averaged 30.9 minutes, 19.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Shooting guard has been a Black Hole offensively for the Jazz for quite some time and they are hoping that Burks is the right guy to make them forget all about that.

The Utah Jazz took 19-year old, 6’10″, 255 pound center Enes Kanter with the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Kanter sat out last season at Kentucky because he was ruled inelgible due to making $33,000 bucks in Turkey the year before.  Kanter last played back in 2008-09 in Turkey.  He played in 9 games that year and he averaged 10.9 minutes, 2.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  Kanter is a big time talent and the Jazz couldn’t pass him up.  He will give Al Jefferson a break whenever he needs one in 2011-12, but the Jazz are hoping that he will be their starting center in the near future.

The Utah Jazz have decided to let 25-year old guard Kyle Weaver’s 10-day contract expire instead of re-signing him for the last two games of the year.  Weaver played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Jazz this year and he averaged 13.8 minutes, 5.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.  But, Weaver only shot 36% (9 of 25) from the floor for the Jazz and that was just not good enough to get the job done.  The Jazz won’t miss him the last two games.