A day after visiting Pauley Pavilion and serving as the UCLA Bruins honorary captain, UCLA alum Lonzo Ball was traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz. Ball isn’t expected to play in Utah, with ESPN’s Shams Charania reporting that the Jazz will likely waive Ball, allowing him to choose his next team in the buyout market.
Ball’s stint with the Cavaliers lasted only 35 games, but with both Ball and the Cavaliers under-performing, Cleveland ended the experiment. Ball is in the last year of guaranteed money in his deal but he does have a $10 million club option for the 2026-2027 season.
For the season, Ball is averaging 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists. The UCLA product still serves as a do-it-all backup guard but his shooting efficiency has gone downhill since Ball missed two seasons with knee injuries. This year Ball is shooting 30.1% from the field and 27.2% from three. Despite Ball’s other aspects to his game, that level of poor shooting makes it a challenge to consistently give him minutes.
Even with Ball’s early-career shooting struggles, he’s having a career-worst shooting splits this year with Cleveland. Ball became less of a fit with the Cavaliers after Cleveland traded for ball-dominant guard James Harden, making Ball’s passing abilities of less use.
It’ll be interesting to see which teams try to acquire Ball if the Jazz do go ahead and waive him. Could the Chino Hills native end up back in Los Angeles with either the Clippers or the Lakers? The buyout market deadline is March 1st, so we’ll know by the end of the month where Ball will spend the rest of the season.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA’s Lonzo Ball traded to Utah Jazz, expected to be waived
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
