I want to thank the @utahjazz for a great 5 years and I enjoyed every minute of it. Wish the Utah Jazz nothing but the best. – Jeremy Evans, on his Twitter account
SALT LAKE CITY — For the past six years, Jeremy Evans has agreed, even volunteered, to spend part of his offseason bouncing around Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada to help conduct Junior Jazz tours.
Evans even did that again last month, knowing full well that his contract with the Jazz was expiring at the end of June.
Next year, the Dallas area might be the lucky spot that gets visits from Evans.
Evans, one of the two-longest tenured Jazz players, has agreed to a contract with the Dallas Mavericks.
ESPN first reported the two-year, minimum-salary deal, but the bouncy, 6-foot-9 forward confirmed it Sunday afternoon.
Not surprisingly, Evans announced his departure from Utah in a classy way, bidding farewell to the state, fans and organization that he's been a beloved part of since being drafted 55th overall by the Jazz in the 2010 NBA Draft.
"I want to thank the @utahjazz for a great 5 years and I enjoyed every minute of it," Evans wrote on his Twitter account, @JeremyEvans40. "Wish the Utah Jazz nothing but the best."
Evans followed that by writing: "Going to miss all my BOyyyyss and fans. A great team is being made there in Utah."
His next tweet was to thank Dallas for signing him and ended, "GO MAVS!!!"
Although Evans never got a regular spot in the rotation, the 27-year-old was a huge fan favorite in Jazzland. Jazz fans loved his incredible leaping ability, which led to multiple highlight-reel plays in games and the 2012 NBA Dunk Contest championship. They loved his affable, happy-go-lucky personality, his fun friendship with Gordon Hayward, his incredible artwork and the way he interacted with fans, especially the younger ones.
Evans' team loved him for being a pleasant locker room guy, for being a hard worker in practice and for being a consummate professional.
"Congrats to my guy @JeremyEvans40!!," wrote Joe Ingles, who was Evans' teammate in Utah last season. "One of the best teammates I've had.. Wish you all the best my friend!"
Jazz fans also enjoyed the friendship Evans had with Hayward, whom he became fast friends with after being drafted ninth overall in 2010. The two were charter flight and locker room neighbors for the first four years together in Utah. After Hayward's locker was moved this past season, Evans joked that he couldn't afford to be in the same neighborhood anymore.
"Happy for my guy @JeremyEvans40!" Hayward wrote. "Wishing you all the best in Dallas! Gonna miss whoopin u in Fifa #igetdubs."
Although his playing time was sparse, the Western Kentucky product and Arkansas native gave the Jazz energy in his sporadic playing time. Fans will long remember alley-oops he connected on with former Jazz point guard Earl Watson (now an assistant coach under Jeff Hornacek at Phoenix).
Kids around the state will remember him for the time he spent putting them through drills and participating in games and Q&A sessions on those Junior Jazz tours.
"I just like coming out. I didn't have a chance to meet an NBA player really when I was younger or (do) something like this," Evans told the Deseret News while in a small gym in Dugway during a Junior Jazz tour in 2012. "(I like) just to come out and make their day or even make (somebody's) lifetime. They'll always remember this. I think it's fun. It's an opportunity that everybody doesn't get."
Some Jazz fans took to social media to express their gratitude toward Evans.
"Jeremy endeared himself to so many," James Poll wrote on Twitter. "My heart is heavy."
"I am as upset about @JeremyEvans40 leaving as I was when Ronnie Price left," Shon Newton wrote. "2 of my fav players."
"My fav memory of J Evans when he got his first NBA paycheck, he bought braces," Andrew Maurer wrote. "Good luck @JeremyEvans40."
There might not be a sadder person in the state than the kind, elderly Jazz fan who baked different flavors of cookies for him and delivered them to the arena before every home game.
EMAIL: jody@desnews.com
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