Get to know Omer Yurtseven

Yurtseven thrived when given opportunities as a rookie. (Lynne Sladky via sltrib.com)

The Jazz made their first free agent splash earlier this week, adding former Heat center Omer Yurtseven on a partially guaranteed deal.

While this was their first veteran free agent signing of the offseason, they have been busy. They kicked the offseason with an amazing trade for John Collins. Collins was seemingly on the trade block every summer and had been linked to the Jazz for quite some time. The fact that Utah got him for no more than 36-year-old Rudy Gay and a future second round pick is still mind-boggling. They did have to take on his remaining $25 million per year salary for the next two seasons, but Collins is likely a better player than anyone they could have realistically signed this off-season. Then with most of their remaining cap space, they retained players they already had on the roster. Talen Horton-Tucker picked up his $11 million Player Option, and Utah then signed Jordan Clarkson to a 3-year, $55 million contract renegotiation. 

The Jazz still had one remaining roster spot, with roughly $2.8 million of cap space left as well as a $7.7 million salary cap exception. It seemed clear that they wanted to target another center to have on the roster. After renouncing the rights to Udoka Azubuike and then trading Damian Jones to Cleveland for cash, there was an obvious need for another big man. They first offered Paul Reed Jr. a fascinating “poison pill” contract, where a large amount of money in the second and third years of the deal would only become guaranteed if his team won in the first round of the playoffs during the 2023-24 season. That was designed to deter the Sixers who are much more likely to advance in next year’s playoffs, but they they still chose to match the deal at the last second.

That leads us to the first real splash for the Utah Jazz in free agency. News surfaced Sunday that they were signing Turkish big man Yurtseven, a 25-year-old and third-year pro. The first-year salary is $2.8 million, but is only half guaranteed at $1.4. The second-year of the contract is a team option for $2.7 million.

Free agent Omer Yurtseven has agreed on a two-year deal with the Utah Jazz, agent Keith Glass tells ESPN. The starting salary in the first year is $2.8M.

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 17, 2023

Yurtseven will become the fourth Turkish big-man to play for the Jazz, joining Ersan Illyasova, Enes (Kanter) Freedom, and Mehmet Okur. The Jazz actually lead the NBA in their history for have having players on their team representing the country of Turkey.

So who is Yurtseven and what can Jazz fans expect from him in this upcoming season? Yurtseven started his basketball journey in Turkey with the Turkish youth national team. He also played in the EuroLeague with Fenerbahce, and was able to compete against NBA teams in the preseason. At the time, he was the youngest player in history to compete in an NBA pre-season game at just 17 years old. He opted to play collegiate basketball at North Carolina State from 2016 to 2018 before transferring to Georgetown for his final season. He posted career averages of 12.1 points and 7.1 rebounds in college, but as a senior with Georgetown he averaged an impressive 15.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

He went undrafted, but was signed by the Miami Heat, who have always had a knack for finding undrafted gems to develop. As a rookie backing up Bam Adebayo, Yurtseven posted some really impressive numbers when given the opportunity. He was able to start 12 games due Bam’s January injury, and he averaged 12.1 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. That included some real incredible performances. He finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds in his first career start, then had a 22 point, 16 rebound game verses Sacramento. In his last start before Bam returned from injury, he had 22 points and 11 rebounds while going head-to-head against Joel Embiid and the Sixers.

Despite those performance, Yurtseven was not given much opportunity with the Heat. After playing in 56 games as a rookie, he needed foot surgery prior to the start of his second season, and when he returned, he found himself playing behind both Kevin Love and Cody Zeller. Then during this Summer League, Orlando Robinson dominated with averages of 25.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. It was clear he didn’t have a route to play with the Heat, which opened the door for the Jazz to make him an offer.

Clearly Yurtseven is talented. Rookies don’t often average 12 points and 12 rebounds for a month straight, including some monster 20+ point double-doubles. We might be looking at a young player who was actually negatively impacted by being on a winning team and playing behind an All-Star level center. If he had started his career with a team like the Charlotte Hornets and had been given ample playing time, he would have garnered much more on the open market. 

All that said, I imagine he is still going to be in a similar position with the Jazz. He doesn’t have the positional flexibility to play any position other than the center. I’ve heard people mention his ability to stretch the floor, but he has only attempted 18 three-pointers in his career. His shooting stroke does look comfortable, so maybe there is confidence that he can continue to grow that part of his game. From the video above though, you can see that the majority of his scoring prowess comes from his high level footwork and ability to score in the paint. He is certainly not an elite level athlete, but he does a good job of just being in the right spots. That is both offensively and defensively. He doesn’t block many shots, but he does do a fine job of just staying in front of his man and consistently contesting shots. During his stretch as a started with the Heat, they had an Offensive Rating of 116.5 and a Defensive Rating of 109.7. That Net Rating was 6th best in the NBA. Not that those ratings are all because of him, but playing without All-NBA center Bam Adebayo, he showed that he can contribute on a winning team.

My expectation is for Yurtseven to be the third center in the rotation. Walker Kessler will be the clear starter, with Kelly Olynyk being the primary backup. Lauri Markkanen and John Collins will also likely see time at the center position in certain lineups. That leaves Yurtseven largely out of the rotation. He is a wonderful insurance policy though. If either Kessler or Olynyk struggle with injuries, he has shown more than capable as a player who can step in and provide productive minutes to avoid a major drop-off in team performance. For a center signed this late into free agency and at the minimum, this was a solid pick-up for the Jazz.