SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Jazz made qualifying offers to guards Dee Brown and C.J. Miles on Friday, making both players restricted free agents.
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The move means the Jazz can match any offer Brown or Miles get from other teams that want to sign them. Terms of Utah's offers were not available.
Brown, a second-round draft pick last year, had a one-year contract and was a solid enough backup to Deron Williams -- his former college teammate at Illinois -- that the Jazz would like to hang on to him, said Kevin O'Connor, Utah's vice president of basketball operations.
Miles entered the NBA straight out of high school two years ago when the Jazz took him in the second round. He has played in 60 games in two seasons with Utah and spent part of last season with Idaho in the NBA Development League.
Miles is only 20 years old and the Jazz feel he still has enough potential to try to keep him, but chose not to extend his original contract.
O'Connor said Utah is also going to try to keep center Rafael Araujo, who is an unrestricted free agent. The Jazz got the former Brigham Young star in a trade with Toronto last summer. Although Araujo didn't play a lot this season, O'Connor said he impressed coach Jerry Sloan with his work in practice.
"Jerry puts a premium on guys that work because he thinks guys that work get better. And he works. He doesn't just act like he works," O'Connor said.
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