Stevenson will spend another year on Jazz’s roster

? The Utah Jazz on Wednesday exercised their fourth-year option on DeShawn Stevenson, a guard who jumped from high school to the NBA.

Stevenson entered his third season as Utah’s starting shooting guard. Jazz vice president of basketball operations Kevin O’Connor said Stevenson would have become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season if the team did not pick up the $1.3 million option by Thursday.

Stevenson averaged 3.8 points in limited playing time in his first two seasons. He started four preseason games this fall and averaged 7.8 points.

“We felt he’s made progress in his game,” O’Connor said Wednesday from New Orleans before the Jazz opened against the Hornets. “We think that we’d rather be patient than make a decision based off of what might be.”

Stevenson originally signed to play basketball at Kansas University but later decided to go straight to the NBA. He was a first-round prospect after averaging 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists at Mount Washington High School in Fresno, Calif.