NBA’s Utah Jazz sign NZ Breakers forward Jarrell Brantley to 10-day contract

[ad_1]

Breakers forward Jarrell Brantley has followed his outstanding NBL season with a deal to return to the NBA.

Matt King/Getty Images

Breakers forward Jarrell Brantley has followed his outstanding NBL season with a deal to return to the NBA.

New Zealand Breakers forward Jarrell Brantley has bounced back into the NBA on the back of his standout performances in the Kiwi club’s charge to the Australian NBL’s championship series.

The 1.96-metre, 26-year-old from South Carolina has been signed to a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz, the team has announced. He has played for the club previously, having made 41 appearances in total (37 regular season and four in playoffs) during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

Brantley was a key figure in the Breakers’ turnaround Australian NBL season in 2022-23, leading the club to the championship series against the Sydney Kings which they lost 3-2.

The rugged forward started all 36 games for the Breakers as they went 18-10 in the regular season and were only pipped in the deciding fifth game of the championship series against Sydney last Wednesday, going down 77-69 after leading by 7 three minutes into the final period.

READ MORE:
* Sydney Kings outlast NZ Breakers in decider to claim back-to-back NBL championships
* Rejuvenated Jarrell Brantley hopes ‘special’ NZ Breakers group can sign off in style
* Family, faith and fulfilling destiny: Jarrell Brantley fuelled to deliver for NZ Breakers

Brantley averaged 16.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Breakers in ‘22-23 and was named the club’s MVP. He had a strong game both inside and out and was the team’s most consistent performer throughout a bounceback season (they went 5-23 in ‘21-22) that very nearly took them from chumps to champs.

The single-minded American always believed deep-down he had a shot to get back into the NBA, and now he has his foot in the door with the Jazz he will be looking to make a strong enough impression to secure a more permanent role.

Breakers

The American power forward is a new addition to the Breakers lineup for 2022-23.

Brantley told Stuff in February he felt confident his journey would take him back to the world’s biggest league.

“Those are things already written in the stars,” he said. “I will be where I’m supposed to be. I would love to be in that situation, and I know that time will come. But I also want to embrace the people I’m around daily, and that’s where my focus is.

“Every day I step on court I’m trying to get 1% better. Six months ago I was playing for Charlotte’s G League team, then in Puerto Rico, then I did a bunch of NBA workouts, then I went to Summer League. I’ve been on a steady incline. I’ve been cutting fat every day for the last year and will be in my best form sooner or later. It’s not about the NBL – it’s about Jarrell Brantley for me.”

Brantley becomes the third player to make the leap from the Breakers into the NBA, after RJ Hampton (Denver Nuggets, now Detroit Pistons) and Ousmane Dieng (OKC Thunder) who were both drafted out of the Next Stars programme.

It is expected Breakers guard/forward Rayan Rupert will join them, with the 18-year-old Frenchman predicted to be a first-round pick in the 2023 Draft.

The Jazz currently sit 11th in the West with a 33-36 record, though in a tight conference they are still well in the race for a spot in the play-in games.

They are just one win behind both the LA Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder who occupy the last two spots in the play-in tournament and are just three wins behind the sixth-placed Dallas Mavericks. The Jazz have 13 games left in the regular season.

[ad_2]

Leave a Comment