Johnny

Juzang

Juzang, who agreed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Timberwolves on August 1, played well during the preseason. He’ll stick around on a two-way contract, which allows Minnesota to make Juzang active for up to 50 regular-season games. However, the team must waive Tristen Newton, Enrique Freeman or Rocco Zikarsky to free up a two-way slot for Juzang. Zikarsky’s two-way deal runs for two years, so he’s the player most likely to remain with the Timberwolves.

While Juzang agreed to a one-year deal with the Timberwolves in August, his contract is non-guaranteed. So, every positive performance has added meaning for the guard, who had another good shooting night. Juzang shot 3-of-6 from beyond the arc against Guangzhou, less than a week after knocking down six triples against the Pacers. Last season, the Timberwolves were ranked in the top five in three-point makes and attempts per game, and fourth in three-point percentage. With Minnesota having one open roster spot, Juzang is doing all he can to earn that opportunity.

Juzang, who signed a non-guaranteed deal with Minnesota in August, made a big impact on the scoreboard for a second consecutive game. After scoring 16 points in Minnesota’s first game of the preseason on Saturday, Juzang topped that mark in this loss to Indiana. This isn’t enough to lock him in for a roster spot, but it certainly helps strengthen his case.

Juzang played the first three years of his career with the Jazz before being waived on June 30. The Wolves will utilize his strong three-point shooting abilities after Juzang shot 38.4% from beyond the arc across his last two seasons.

Over the last two seasons, the UCLA product has averaged just over eight points and 1.7 triples while shooting 38.4 percent from downtown. He should have no problem landing with a new team that can utilize his floor-spacing abilities.

Collier played 35 minutes in Sunday’s game against the Hawks, scoring 17 points and recording 12 assists. The 20-year-old point guard is dealing with right hamstring soreness and has a legitimate chance to miss Wednesday’s game given his questionable listing. Johnny Juzang could see additional minutes if Collier is ruled out.

Juzang moved into the starting lineup with Walker Kessler (concussion) out Friday. The 24-year-old shooting guard played 36 minutes in the loss to the Pacers. He took plenty of shots, but had just 17 points. Juzang connected on 5-of-12 three-pointers. He was just okay as a streamer in deeper formats, which was to be expected.

The Jazz are without Walker Kessler (concussion) for Friday’s game, and his absence opens up a spot in the starting lineup. Juzang will fill the void, with Filipowski shifting to the center position. The former is worth streaming consideration in deep leagues, while the latter is already rostered in some standard leagues.

Martin has averaged just over 21 minutes per game across his last six, so his absence will free up some rotational minutes for the likes of Brice Sensabaugh and Kyle Filipowski. With Walker Kessler (concussion) sidelined, Martin likely would have started if he was available. That opportunity will now likely fall to either Johnny Juzang or Svi Mykhailiuk.

Sexton returned to the Jazz lineup after missing Monday’s loss to the Hornets and was solid in his 24 minutes on the court. While he’s still rostered in 77 percent of Yahoo! leagues, the issue for fantasy managers is that the Jazz essentially know what they have in Sexton. As a result, he’s not playing starters’ minutes despite being in the starting lineup. Johnny Juzang, bumped to the bench with Sexton back in the lineup, finished Wednesday’s defeat with five points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and one three-pointer in 23 minutes, shooting 2-of-11 from the field.