This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Jazz on Saturday waived little-used center Andris Biedrins and claimed rookie Erik Murphy off waivers.
Murphy, a 6-foot-10 forward out of Florida, was a second-round pick by the Chicago Bulls last June. He appeared in 24 games, averaging 2.6 points before being waived on Thursday.
To make room for Murphy, the Jazz cut ties with Biedrins, a veteran center who never made an impact in Utah after being acquired from Golden State. Biedrins played in just six games and scored only three points on the year, while making $9 million. He had not played in a game since mid-December.
Murphy is the son of an NBA player, Jay Murphy, whose career spanned 1984-88.
In his four years at Florida, Murphy averaged 7.7 points and shot better than 43 percent from 3-point range. He was a first-team All-SEC selection and an AP Honorable Mention All-American his senior year.
Murphy will wear No. 33 for the Jazz.
Charitable contributions
Jazz guard Alec Burks earned 13 free-throw attempts in Friday's win over the Pelicans and hit all of them. The slashing guard has been one of the best on the Jazz at earning freebies this year, averaging 4.8 attempts a game.
But he's recently been overtaken by swingman Gordon Hayward, who is up to 4.9 a game on the year after taking 71 attempts in his last 10 games.
"I think the whistle's starting to go his way a little bit," Burks said. "The more aggressive you are, I think the refs see that."
Warriors' unrest
With the playoffs just two weeks away, the Warriors' bench is in disarray. After reassigning assistant Brian Scalabrine to the D-League last month, the team announced Saturday it had fired assistant Darren Erman for a "violation of company policy."