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

Stevenson enters 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.