The Utah Jazz has assigned rookies Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko to their D-League affiliate, the Utah Flash, Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today.
Fesenko, a 7-1, 20-year-old center, was originally sent to the Flash on Nov. 10. There he played four games, averaging 13.8 points and seven rebounds before being recalled by the Jazz on Nov. 30. The native of Ukraine appeared in his lone Jazz game the night he was recalled, scoring six points and grabbing seven rebounds in a 120-96 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Almond, a 6-6, 225-pound guard from Rice, was selected in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft (25th overall) and has appeared in four Jazz games this season.
The Utah Flash now has the maximum number of assigned players allowable on their roster. Almond and Fesenko join Gabe Pruitt and Brandon Wallace, who are on assignment from the Boston Celtics, the other parent club for the Utah Flash. The only other time a D-League team has had the maximum number of assigned players was from Jan. 3-10, 2006 when the Florida Flame had four players on assignment from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat.
“As a coach for our organization I’m obviously excited to have four NBA guys on our roster,” Flash head coach Brad Jones said. “This is a good accolade and tribute to what Freddy (Flash GM David Fredman) and (owner) Brandt (Andersen) are doing that NBA teams feel comfortable enough to send players our way. The challenge for the coach is I have to get these guys to mesh together, play as a team and get better every day.”
The Flash is 3-3 and in third place in the D-League’s West Division.