Jarrod Uthoff: The Next Step for the Former Hawkeye

A look at what’s next after the Toronto Raptors waived Jarrod Uthoff

The 2015 All-American and former Iowa Hawkeye Jarrod Uthoff has taken an interesting path since graduating. Reports surfaced that Uthoff asked teams at the end of the draft not to select him because he didn’t want to be a D-League stash, in hopes of making an NBA roster.

Uthoff caught on with the Sacramento Kings summer league team. He appeared in four games, averaging 4.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and one block in 17.3 minutes per game. It wasn’t enough to make the training camp roster, though, as Uthoff eventually chose to sign with the Toronto Raptors.

Heading into training camp, it seemed that former Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet and Uthoff would fight for the 15th roster spot. That turned out to be false as the Raptors never gave Uthoff a hard look at in preseason play. He appeared in one preseason game for eight minutes, failing to score and grabbing two rebounds.

The Raptors cut Uthoff this weekend, and now he is back where he would have been if a team drafted him. The All-American forward that averaged 18.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game to go along with versatile scoring as a senior at Iowa last year has a choice to make.

He can either stick in the D-League or go overseas like former Hawkeyes Roy Devyn Marble and Aaron White. Granted White is still part of the Washington Wizards organization as a draft-and-stash prospect, but Marble chose to go overseas instead of trying to latch onto a team with a training camp deal. He was able to sign with a better team than if he waited and make more money than if he were to be waived and play in the D-League.

Uthoff could have chosen this route after summer league. While international basketball is still an option, he would be taking a serious pay cut from what he would have made if he signed earlier because the better teams have already finalized their roster. Plus, going overseas lessens the chances of Uthoff joining an NBA roster later this year once injuries start to happen and teams look for guys on 10-day contracts.

There is no doubt that Toronto would happily sign Uthoff to a D-League contract, sending him to their affiliate, the Raptors 905. Even though he didn’t make the 15-man roster, Toronto had to like his game enough to sign him to a training camp deal. With Uthoff still relatively young, it’d be surprising if the Raptors don’t consider him a development project at the very least.

Sure, Uthoff would make less than he would going overseas, but it also gives him a chance to find playing time in the NBA in 2016-17 and allows the Raptors to track his development. He couldn’t break his contract with an overseas team to play a 10-day stint with the Raptors.