Utah Jazz Signing Luka Šamanić Through 2023-24 Season
Apr 6, 2023, 9:34 PM | Updated: Apr 7, 2023, 9:59 am
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz plan to sign forward Luka Šamanić through the 2023-24 NBA season.
Jazz signing Luka Šamanić to new deal
NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported Šamanić’s deal shortly after the Jazz were officially from playoff contention with a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, April 6.
“The Utah Jazz are signing F Luka Samanic through the 2023-2024 season, a deal including guaranteed money and trigger dates, his agents George Roussakis and Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tell ESPN,” Wojnarowski tweeted. “Samanic, 23, was the 19th overall pick to the Spurs in 2019.”
Šamanić, 23, first joined the Jazz on a 10-day deal in March.
RELATED: Utah Jazz Sign Croatian Forward Luka Šamanić To 10-Day Contract
The Utah Jazz are signing F Luka Samanic through the 2023-2024 season, a deal including guaranteed money and trigger dates, his agents George Roussakis and Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tell ESPN. Samanic, 23, was the 19th overall pock to the Spurs in 2019.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 7, 2023
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In five games with the Jazz, Šamanić is averaging 7.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.4 blocks, and 0.6 steals in 20.0 minutes per contest.
Before joining the Jazz, the Zagreb, Croatia native played professionally in Europe, the NBA, and the G League. He didn’t start playing basketball until he was 11 years old.
“I’m so grateful for Utah,” Šamanić said after the news broke. “They gave me a second chance and the coach and front office, really it’s been a crazy ride since San Antonio so I’m just very grateful.”
From 2017-18, Šamanić played for FC Barcelona B. After his time in Spain, the forward played for Slovenia’s Petrol Olimpija from 2018-19. In 2019, the San Antonio Spurs selected Šamanić with the No. 19 overall pick in the NBA Draft. While with the Spurs, Šamanić was coached by Jazz head coach Will Hardy, who was an assistant for Gregg Popovich.
Šamanić played for the Spurs and their G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, from 2019-21. As a member of the Spurs, Šamanić averaged 3.8 points per game on 43.0 percent shooting, including 29.4 percent on three-pointers. He also averaged 2.2 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.3 blocks in 9.9 minutes per game. He played in 36 games for San Antonio, including five starts.
welcome to the block party, Luka!
we're happy to have ya 🫶 pic.twitter.com/3XpjsK9UOm
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 30, 2023
After his time in San Antonio, Šamanić played for the G League’s Westchester Knicks and Maine Celtics, the affiliates for the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, respectively.
Luka's got something to say 😏#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/hXCWfq3xMm
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 1, 2023
With Utah’s loss to Oklahoma City, the Jazz fell to a 36-44 record this season. Šamanić and the Jazz have two games left this season.
Utah’s next game is at home against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, April 8. The game will begin and 1:30 p.m. (MDT) and will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet, NBA League Pass, and KSL Sports Zone.
