National Basketball Association

Utah Jazz: Stars Get Chane Behanan in Trade, Officially Say Goodbye to Cooley

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:35 p.m. ET

Fansided, Ryan Aston/FanSided via Purple and Blues

The Utah Jazz D-League affiliate squad, the Salt Lake City Stars, acquired forward Chane Behanan in a trade with the Reno Bighorns.

The NBA Trade Deadline is on the horizon and speculation about the Utah Jazz making moves has begun to percolate. Meanwhile, the team’s D-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, has been wheeling and dealing all season long. That trend continued on Thursday.

According to an announcement from the Stars, the team has acquired forward Chane Behanan from the Reno Bighorns. In return, the Bighorns received returning player rights to former Jazzman Jack Cooley.

Cooley is currently starring for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) in Germany.

Stars Acquire Chane Behanan from @renobighorns https://t.co/iEZdWub9wg pic.twitter.com/6MEQndmdyv

— Salt Lake City Stars (@slcstars) February 2, 2017

The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Behanan has played professionally in both Mexico and the D-League since going undrafted in 2014. As a collegiate at Louisville, he averaged 9.4 points and just under seven rebounds per game in three years with the program. He also helped the Cardinals capture the 2013 NCAA championship as a sophomore.

In 19 games with Reno this season, the 24-year-old averaged 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. When the Stars played the Bighorns during the recent D-League showcase, he scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds to help Reno to a 20-point win.

As fate would have it, the two teams are slated to meet again on Friday night.

To make room on the roster for Behanan, the Stars waived forward Jeremy Williams. The 29-year-old had appeared in 22 games (five starts) with Salt Lake City this season, averaging just over five points and three boards per contest.

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However, the big loss for a specific segment of fans here is Cooley’s rights. Although the big man was waived by the Jazz back in late 2015 and had since moved on to the BBL, he was a fan favorite during his short stay in Salt Lake City; 12th man off the bench, but first in our hearts!

With Thursday’s move, a return to the Beehive State seems unlikely. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating here — happy trails, Jack Cooley!