Utah Jazz Waive Player Who Recently Suffered Torn ACL

This sounds pretty cruel. But hey, the NBA is a business. Big business. So the Utah Jazz had no problem today waiving Vince Williams Jr.—despite the fact that he recently suffered a torn ACL.

The Jazz really waived Vince Williams while he was dealing with a Torn ACL… 🤦‍♂️
Business has taken over the NBA pic.twitter.com/JDXXDGDqn4
— BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) March 9, 2026

Williams, the 25-year-old former second-round pick, was dealt to the Jazz by the Memphis Grizzlies at the trade deadline. He played just six games for Utah before suffering the knee injury. He had season-ending surgery last month.

Welcome to Utah.

The 6'4" combo guard had been a rotation regular for Memphis the past few seasons, averaging over 20 minutes a game. He was sent to the Jazz as part of the package in the stunning Jaren Jackson Jr. blockbuster last month.

Williams will now become a free agent, unless a team decides to claim him off waivers, in which case they’ll have to pay out the remainder of his $2.3 million contract for the 2025-2026 NBA season. That club would then have a team option for next season, which is worth $2.4 million. That's all highly unlikely, of course, given that he'll be out for a year recovering from his knee injury.

Over his four NBA seasons, Williams has averaged 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 21.3 minutes per game with the Grizzlies and Jazz.

He was selected 47th overall by the Grizz in the 2022 NBA Draft.