IN EARLY MARCH, the Utah Jazz signed Andersson Garcia to a 10-day contract. Garcia was a college backup, an off-the-radar undrafted prospect and a defensive-minded role player for the Mexico City Capitanes this season. The Jazz then played Garcia 25, 29, 43, 24 and 48 minutes in five games, sending him back to free agency a day after not subbing him out the entire night.
"I'm super grateful, but at the same time, I was really surprised," Garcia told reporters during his brief tenure. "I wasn't expecting to be here right now."
The Jazz, trying to protect a top-eight protected pick they owe the Oklahoma City Thunder, were outscored by 69 points in Garcia's 169 minutes. They signed Bez Mbeng on March 13. Mbeng is currently getting more minutes per game for Utah than he did for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. The team is minus-146 with him on the floor this month.
The Memphis Grizzlies, having lost 15 of 17, have started an NBA record 25 different players this season. In recent weeks, they've deployed a similar appearing tactic with the signings of Lucas Williamson, Adama Bal and Lawson Lovering.
It's a popularizing strategy -- adding, activating and overusing midtier G League players -- that NBA sources insist spawned in Oklahoma City a few years back.
"It's a copycat league," an executive on a currently tanking team told ESPN. "All the models and ideas, there are always further iterations. That's what happens when it works."
In the final week of a rapid two-year rebuild, the Thunder signed Georgios Kalaitzakis, Melvin Frazier and Zavier Simpson to their roster to close out the 2021-22 season.
The three, all considered non-NBA level talents, were then given 40-minute per night roles for the final four games. The Thunder were outscored by 85 points in Kalaitzakis' court time, 92 in Frazier's and 95 in Simpson's.