SALT LAKE CITY (September 26, 2012) – The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed free-agent center Brian Butch, forward Trey Gilder, forward Darnell Jackson and guard Chris Quinn. Per team policy, financial terms were not released. All four players will join the Jazz prior to next week’s training camp at Zions Bank Basketball Center. Following the four additions, Utah’s roster now stands at 19 players.
Butch (6-11, 240, Wisconsin) spent last season with the D-League’s Bakersfield Jam after attending training camp with the New Orleans Hornets. The former Badger averaged a team-high 15.3 points and 9.8 rebounds to go along with 1.4 assists in 27.3 minutes with the Jam. Butch has played in a total of 56 games (55 starts) in the D-League over two seasons with Bakersfield, holding career averages of 16.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31.9 minutes. Butch has also appeared in games in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) as well as the German League. Butch finished the 2009-10 season on the Denver Nuggets roster after signing with them on April 5, 2010, but did not appear in any regular season games.
Gilder (6-9, 205, Northwestern State) began the 2009-10 NBA season with the Memphis Grizzlies, appearing in two games before being waived. He spent portions of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons in the D-League with Colorado, Maine and Albuquerque and was a 2010 D-League All-Star selection. The Dallas native spent the 2010-11 season with the Sydney Kings in the Australian National Basketball League, appearing in 20 games and averaging 13.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 25.9 minutes. Most recently in 2011-12, Gilder appeared in 34 games (31 starts) with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, averaging 19.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks in 37 minutes of play. Gilder was a member of the Jazz training camp roster last season but was waived prior to the start of the preseason.
Jackson (6-9, 253, Kansas) has appeared in 138 NBA games (four starts) in three seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and most recently Sacramento, holding career averages of 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes. For the Kings in 2010-11, Jackson played in 59 games averaging 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 8.2 minutes. He was originally selected in the second round (52nd pick overall) of the 2008 Draft by the Miami Heat, but was traded to Cleveland in a draft-night deal. The former Kansas Jayhawk spent the 2011-12 season overseas playing for BC Donetsk of the Ukraine-Superleague. He appeared in 14 games in the Eurocup averaging 8.6 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 57.1 percent from the field, and in 35 games in the Ukrainian League he totaled 7.8 points and 4.9 rebounds in 17.7 minutes. Jackson also attended the 2012 NBA Las Vegas Summer League with the Sacramento Kings, appearing in five games averaging 3.0 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Quinn (6-2, 175, Notre Dame) has appeared in 234 games over five NBA seasons for the Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets and San Antonio Spurs. Quinn last played in the NBA in 2010-11 with San Antonio, appearing in 41 games averaging 2.0 points and 1.0 assists in 7.1 minutes per game. For his career, the Louisiana native has averaged 4.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 13.4 minutes per game in the NBA. During the 2011-12 season, Quinn played overseas for BC Khimky Moscow Region of the Russian League, averaging 7.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists with a 43.1 percent field goal percentage. His BC Khimky Moscow team won the 2012 EuroCup championship.