The NBA and FIBA, the international basketball body, have now cleared the contract that was signed last week between the Utah Jazz and second-round draft pick Kyrylo Fesenko.
"It's a done deal. He's our player now," said Jazz senior vice president of business operations and chief financial officer Bob Hyde Wednesday afternoon.
"He was thrilled," said Fesenko's agent, Jason Levien. He had received a call Wednesday from Fesenko's Ukrainian team telling him the deal had been approved, and Levien called Fesenko in Ukraine to tell him. Fesenko was working out when Levien got through to him.
Fesenko signed his contract a week earlier before heading to his home in Ukraine for a couple weeks to be with friends and family before moving to Salt Lake City, which he planned to do a month early, probably Sept. 3.
But the contract — which took several weeks to be negotiated, as the Jazz and Fesenko and Levien worked in two languages with the NBA, FIBA, the Ukrainian federation and Fesenko's Ukrainian club, which received a $500,000 buyout — had to then be cleared first by FIBA and then the NBA. The final step was finished Wednesday.
The contract for the 7-foot-1 20-year-old is a three-year deal with the first year for $750,000 and second worth $810,000. Those two years are guaranteed. The third year, a team option, is for $870,000.
Fesenko hopes to first find an apartment and car when he arrives in September and then plans to work out with any Jazz coaches and players who might be around, Levien said. He may also go to the IMG Academy in California, where many pro players train and where Jazzman Andrei Kirilenko spent part of last summer.
"He wants to hit the ground running," Levien said, adding Fesenko wants to be in the best shape of his life to start training camp Oct. 1.
Fesenko was drafted at No. 38 overall on June 28 by the Philadelphia 76ers, who made the pick for the Jazz in exchange for other considerations and traded Fesenko to Utah for its No. 55 overall pick, Herbert Hill.
During the Rocky Mountain Revue, Fesenko played 16.3 minutes a game, starting three of the six outings, and averaging 4.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.67 blocked shots.
He played three years of pro ball in Ukraine, averaging 18 minutes last season for Cherkaski Mavpi of the Ukrainian SuperLeague. His season high was 17 points, and he averaged 6.7 plus 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots. In six games in the FIBA EuroCup Challenge, Fesenko's numbers were 7.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocked shots in 18.7 minutes. He also played for the Ukraine national team in the 2005 Under-20 and in the 2004 Under-18 European Championships.
E-mail: lham@desnews.com