Georges Niang has been bouncing around teams recently, and he was just sent from the Boston Celtics to the Utah Jazz.
A lot of people thought his trip around the NBA would continue, but it sounds like he may spend his time with the Jazz in 2025-26.
According to Jake Fischer in the latest “Stein Line” column, the Jazz plan to keep Niang.
“Sources say Utah plans to keep veteran big man Georges Niang after reacquiring Niang this week in a trade with Boston,” Fischer wrote. “The Jazz also acquired second-round picks from the Celtics in 2027 and 2031 in the trade that sent two-way guard RJ Luis to Boston. The Celtics discussed trading Niang with various teams around the league, sources say, in their continued salary-shaving campaign following the luxury-tax-slashing trades that shipped out Jrue Holiday and Porziņģis.”
The Jazz are going to hold onto Niang, but that doesn’t mean he will be with the team for the long-term future.
As noted by Fischer, the Jazz have been accumulating a lot of contracts that are expiring, which means they don’t have to keep them forever.
Depending on how next season goes, Utah can drop a ton of these contracts, including Niang’s.
They have recently added Jusuf Nurkic, Kevin Love, and Niang.
They have brought in all these assets on minimal deals and have really only made a long-term commitment with Lauri Markkanen, who is still supposedly the future of the team.
The Jazz are going to see what Niang can do in the new year, but no one should think he is secure in the lineup beyond 2025-26.
This team wants as much flexibility and as many options as possible.
NEXT: Kevin Love Is Reportedly Not Happy In Utah