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The Utah Jazz are changing Trent Forrest’s contract for the playoffs. Here’s why

The Jazz are converting Forrest’s contract from a two-way deal to a standard NBA contract so he can be eligible for the playoffs.

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Utah Jazz guard Trent Forrest (3) looks for an open teammate during an NBA basketball game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

Utah Jazz guard Trent Forrest (3) looks for an open teammate during an NBA basketball game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022.

Mengshin Lin, Deseret News

Trent Forrest will be on the Utah Jazz’s roster for the upcoming NBA playoffs.

On Sunday morning, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported that the Jazz would be converting Forrest’s contract from a two-way deal, which he’s been on since joining the Jazz in 2020, to a standard one, and the team formally announced the move a few hours later.

The official wording of the transaction is that the Jazz exercised the Standard NBA Contract Conversion Option on Forrest’s contract.

Under NBA rules, players have to be on standard deals to be eligible to play in the playoffs.

Spotrac’s Keith Smith reported that the move will make Forrest a restricted free agent this summer, meaning Forrest will have the opportunity to sign a contract offer from another team, but the Jazz would have the ability to match the offer if they desire to keep him.

Before Sunday, the Jazz had one standard roster spot open, and up until a few days ago it was assumed that they would fill it by signing Forrest to a standard deal for the playoffs.

Last Wednesday, however, Forrest suffered a ligament sprain in his left foot and will be evaluated on a weekly basis.

As such, some wondered if the Jazz would look to a player who is for sure healthy to fill their last roster spot, but that will not be the case.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Forrest has far outplayed his two-way contract this season after the NBA changed the rules on them for this year in response to the pandemic, lifting the cap on how many days players under them could be with their NBA team instead of their G League team.

Forrest, 23, has appeared in 60 games (six starts) and averaged 3.3 points, 1.8 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per contest as he has had major point guard duties at times.