Johnny Juzang finds surprising new home after being waived by Timberwolves

Johnny Juzang was on a two-way contract all season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. That was until February 18, when the team decided to part ways with the 24-year-old and waived him.

On Saturday, it was announced that Juzang has resurfaced with another basketball club. It’s not a team in the NBA though, as instead, Juzang has signed with Zenit BC in Russia for the rest of the season.

Juzang never received a chance to make an impact for Timberwolves

The Timberwolves had a recent decision that they needed to make. Two-way players can spend a maximum of 50 games with the NBA team they are signed for, and Juzang reached that mark. If Minnesota wanted him to be able to still be on the Timberwolves’ active game day roster, he would need to be signed to a standard deal for the rest of the season.

Instead, after assigning Juzang to the Iowa Wolves of the G League for a brief time (he didn’t play for them), the Timberwolves waived him. That opened up a two-way slot for the club that was filled by Jules Bernard on Wednesday, but he was also waived just days later on Saturday -- and the Wolves subsequently converted Zyon Pullin to a two-way contract.

While the 6-foot-7 wing was active for 50 of the Timberwolves' outings, he only appeared in 21 of them. Almost all of his action came in garbage time, as Juzang only finished with 88 minutes of playing time with the team. Juzang’s Minnesota tenure concluded with totals of 43 points (16-for-38 from the field, 6-for-24 from 3-point range, 5-for-8 from the foul line), 17 rebounds, and six assists.

Undrafted out of UCLA in 2022, Juzang began his career on a two-way deal with the Utah Jazz, a team he spent the previous three seasons with before joining the Timberwolves. The 2024-25 season is when he received the most playing time, and he averaged 8.9 points in 64 games (18 starts).

Heading to team with other former NBA players

Now, Juzang heads overseas for the first time in his playing career. He joins a Zenit BC roster that features other former NBA players, including Andre Roberson, Sergey Karasev, Xavier Moon, Alex Poythress, and Luka Samanic.

Juzang joins a team that is currently 20-9 on the year, good for third in the VTB League. A strong showing from Johnny could potentially earn him another shot in the NBA come next season.