Ed Davis: ‘Talked With Jazz Front Office About Contending For Championship’

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Utah Jazz are starting to make the free agent signings and trades official, but not all of them have signed on the dotted line but are talking about their new destinations in the NBA.

Ed Davis has agreed to terms with the Jazz, but has yet to officially signed with the franchise.

Utah has officially acquired Mike Conley and signed Bojan Bogdanovic, but Davis, Jeff Green, Emmanuel Mudiay and Nigel Williams-Goss has not signed yet.

Davis joined the Chris Vernon Show with Grind City Media in Memphis, who was doing shows in Las Vegas.

The future Jazzman is really excited to join the franchise and talked about why he chose to play for the Jazz.

Ed Davis on the @ChrisVernonShow on why he came to the Jazz (July 10th) pic.twitter.com/MYaXsKzruG

— Diana (@dianaallen) July 12, 2019

Jazz Sales Pitch

June 30 at 4 p.m. began the free agency period where NBA teams can officially talk to free agents. The Jazz agreed to terms with Davis fairly quickly in the process.

“When July 1 hit, I had four offers around the same amount of money and years,” Davis said. “I wanted to find the best team and the best fit for me. Utah was the perfect situation with my role backing up (Rudy) Gobert, a chance to win a title and a veteran team.”

The Pelicans and Kings were among the other teams that gave Davis an offer.

When the four teams had basically the same amount of money and years on the contract, he wanted to find the best fit for him since money wasn’t going to be a factor.

The Nets wanted Davis back but when they signed Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, it was difficult for the Nets to retain Davis.

“You have to look at it from both sides,” Davis said. “If you have the chance to get Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, you have to do it no matter what. Even if you have to sacrifice your role players. Kevin Durant moves the needle in taking a team from the second round of the playoffs to a Finals team. The league only has 10 guys who can do that and he is one of them.”

Davis agreed to a two-year deal worth $10 million on June 30 at 8 p.m. mountain time.

“I met with the staff on June 30 and all that we talked about was contending for a championship, championship, championship,” Davis said. “That mindset with the pieces that we have there and that this year is one of the only years since I have been in the league that you don’t have a clear-cut favorite. We have 15 teams that think that they win a championship, where most years it is 5 teams. You never know what can happen.”

Davis has been working out with the Jazz in Las Vegas during Summer League.

Reunited With Mike Conley

Davis spent a year and a half in Memphis from 2013-14 with Mike Conley and played in 99 games, averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in a Grizzlies uniform, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals. His relationship with Conley was one of the reasons why he chose the Jazz.

“Out of all of the guys that I have played with, he (Conley) is the most unselfish player. He is always a great teammate and doing things right. Everybody that has ever played with Mike respects him. He is a special person.”

Utah acquired Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies during the off-season in exchange for Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, Grayson Allen and two first round draft picks.

Through his nine NBA seasons, Davis has averaged 6.5 points and 6.8 rebounds. Last season in Brooklyn, he posted 5.8 points, a career-high 8.6 rebounds and shot 61 percent from the field in 18 minutes per game. He appeared in 81 games last season.

Thoughts After Lakers/Clippers Signings

The Los Angeles Clippers took free agency by surprise when they signed Kawhi Leonard, when most expected him to return to Toronto or join the Los Angeles Lakers. They also acquired Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Lakers have LeBron James returning and they traded for Anthony Davis, signed DeMarcus Cousins, Danny Green and Avery Bradley among others.

“I wasn’t surprised that Kawhi chose the Clippers,” Davis stated. “I thought earlier in the year that he was going to go there, but I was shocked about the trade with OKC (getting Paul George). That really shook the NBA up a lot.”