The Kyrylo Fesenko Era has begun.

It isn’t official yet, but local newspapers are reporting that a deal is in place to bring the 7-foot Ukrainian to the Jazz this season, either to play with the senior squad or to join the Utah Flash of the D-League when they open play this fall. The Jazz will have to buy out Fesenko’s current contract with Cherkaski Mavpi, his team in Ukraine, for a sum of $500,000, rather than pay the $1 million it would take to bring Fess over next year.

As the Salt Lake Tribune article mentions, this deal could mean Rafael Araujo is heading to Europe. It would be hard to let Hoffa take up another roster spot, whether Fess stays with the parent club or not. The departure of Araujo is going to be a bummer, because I really feel like he never got a decent shot in the NBA and think he suffered under the weight of unfair expectations. (I also have some residual loyalty to him as a former Cougar, but I digress.)

The best part of this news? Fesenko is a beat writer’s dream — he’s so quotable you just have to stick a tape recorder near his mouth and the stories write themselves. Prepare for wackiness, Jazz fans.

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Layton Shumway is the chief copy editor for BYU’s Daily Universe. You can reach him at lss83@byu.net.