Utah Jazz General Manager Kevin O'Connor, left, introduces Randy Foye as the new Utah Jazz guard during a press conference at the Zions Bank Basketball Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, July 26, 2012.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — After posing for photos with Randy Foye and listening to the newest jazz">Utah Jazz player speak to the media, Kevin O'Connor began his interview with a one-liner.
In a dry delivery, the Jazz's general manager joked, "We finally got somebody not named Williams."
True enough. This Jazz acquisition does not share a last name with the team's previous two pick-ups, Mo Williams and Marvin Williams.
The organization did, however, add another guy who seems like a good fit.
Foye can shoot. He can defend. He plays with toughness. He is know for being a good guy.
And, like his Williams teammates, the 6-4 shooting guard expresses an enthusiasm to play hoops in Utah.
"When I sat to down with my wife and some of my family members," he said, "I understood that this was the perfect place for me to take my career as a basketball player to the next level."
O'Connor admitted the Jazz have had their eyes on Foye since he helped Villanova make a strong Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament back in 2006. He went No. 7 overall in the draft that year, so Utah didn't have a chance to snag him. And they pursued him again two years ago, but the timing wasn't right and Foye ended up signing with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Foye was only signed to a one-year deal with the Jazz, who used part of their $5 million midlevel exception on him. But O'Connor said both parties are thinking long term in this relationship.
"He's somebody that fits our culture. Winning's important to him," O'Connor said. "He brings good character, toughness and good ability. With those things, that fits nicely with who we are."
O'Connor believes Foye, a 36.6-percent career 3-point shooter, gives the Jazz even more of an outside threat. That's something the team lacked last season when the GM admitted "everybody had a foot in the paint against us" on defense because of Utah's long-distance shooting woes.
The incoming Williamses both have career 3-point marks in the 39-percent range, and O'Connor is confident Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks will continue to improve from deep.
"I think it's going to stretch the floor for us a little bit," O'Connor said.
If things go as planned by management with the roster alterations, the Jazz are looking to be more versatile, deeper, better shooters, a tougher defensive squad and improved on the road.
