Former BYU star Yoeli Childs will play for the Utah Jazz in summer league, then go overseas

Former BYU basketball forward and Utah native Yoeli Childs had his chance to showcase his skills close to home when he played for the NBA G League’s Salt Lake City Stars this past season.

He’ll get to do that again this summer before heading overseas to join a new team.

Childs will play for the Utah Jazz’s summer league squad, according to the Hamburg Towers in Germany, who announced Friday that they signed the 6-foot-8, 225-pounder to a one-year deal.

Childs will join the Jazz this summer, as Utah is set to play both in the Salt Lake City (July 5-7) and Las Vegas (July 7-17) NBA summer league tournaments next month.

Childs averaged 15.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocks per game for the Stars during the 2021-22 season. 

He played for the Los Angeles Lakers summer league team last summer, and has also played for the G League’s Erie BayHawks and German club MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg since he left BYU in 2020. 

Childs expressed why he’s looking forward to going overseas to join Hamburg through the team’s official website. The Towers compete in the Basketball Bundesliga, the highest league of pro basketball in Germany.

“I am very happy to be part of the Hamburg Towers with immediate effect. I have the feeling that togetherness is paramount here, that the organization has a clear sporting plan on how to build on the successful past two years,” Childs said, as translated by Google Translate. 

“It is very important to me that my family feels good, too. (Hamburg managing director) Marvin (Willoughby) made me and my wife feel very good. So I’m sure that Hamburg is the right step for me and my family.”

Childs isn’t the only former BYU big man to change teams in recent days.

Former Cougar center Brandon Davies, who’s played the past three seasons for FC Barcelona in Spain, was introduced as the newest member of Olimpia Milano in Italy on Friday.

“Brandon is an athletic, modern player, who can shoot and has big-time EuroLeague experience, so we feel that his addition will improve the level of our group of big men,” Olimpia general manager Christos Stavropoulos said, per the team’s website.

Olimpia Milano competes in the Lega Basket Serie A league.