PLAYER NEWS:
--C Kyrylo Fesenko left the Ukrainian national team with two games still remaining in relegation-round play as part of the European championships. Fesenko's minutes dwindled to the point that he logged just nine minutes in one game and did not play at all in another. Fesenko had prioritized playing for his country over playing for the Jazz's summer league team. The Jazz exercised an $870,000 option in June to bring back Fesenko for a third season. --C Kosta Koufos is set to start play for the Greek national team Sept. 7 in the European championships. Greece will play Macedonia, Croatia and Israel in pool play. Koufos is said to be fully recovered from the dislocated finger that kept him out of summer league. If Greece ends up playing on the final day of the European championships (Sept. 20), Koufos would have just five days before the start of training camp.
--C Goran Suton has signed the non-guaranteed qualifying offer the Jazz tendered him at the end of August. Suton, the Jazz's second-round draft pick out of Michigan State, will go to training camp this month and attempt to claim a roster spot. The Jazz have 13 players already under contract, including two other young centers in Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko, and an $82 million payroll that is $12 million into luxury tax territory. The appeal for Suton comes with the Jazz having unfilled spots on their roster as well as the prospect of becoming a free agent should he be released. Had Suton headed to Europe, the Jazz could have held his rights into the future. Suton's odds of making the team are likely better this season than next, when the Jazz could welcome three draft picks.
--G Deron Williams and G Kyle Korver will host a charity dodgeball tournament -- Dodge Barrage -- Sept. 12 at the Jazz's practice facility. Williams and Korver have made a series of Internet videos to promote the event, including one that pokes fun at Korver's upbringing in small-town Iowa and one staged at The Gateway mall across the street from EnergySolutions Arena.
DRAFT PICKS:
Eric Maynor, G, 6-3, Virginia Commonwealth (first round) -- As always, the Jazz plan to carry three point guards on their roster, but will Maynor be able to find minutes playing behind Deron Williams and possibly Ronnie Price?
Goran Suton, C, 6-10, Michigan State (second round) -- The Jazz coaches were impressed by Suton's workout, but he will have to compete to make the team with young centers Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos already on the roster.
