| Project: Help! Authored by Ben Wilkinson - February 7, 2005 - 10:41 pm
Should the Utah Jazz make a trade? The answer to that question is fairly obvious to anyone who follows them. The Jazz have had a lackluster year and desperately need help if they have any desire to salvage what has become a less than stellar season. In fact, if the race for the playoffs were a presidential election, all of the major networks would have suggested the Jazz concede as soon as AK47 went down with his knee injury back in November.
The fact of the matter is the Jazz won’t make any significant roster moves before the February 24th cutoff date. Sure, they may send Howard Eisley packing for a draft pick or two (if they are wise), but Jazz management lacks the resources and capabilities needed to turn around this sinking ship.
Why, you may ask, are the Jazz not going to make a move? First and foremost it starts with the location. As has been mentioned in my past columns, nobody wants to play in the SLC. Sure, the Delta Center nearly sells out each game. The players who play here are recognized by almost every member of the community. It’s a fantastic place to raise a family. However, because the majority of players in the NBA are young (mid to late 20s), African American, and enjoy nights filled with what most residents of Salt Lake City refer to as sins, it’s hard to find the players with any sort of quantifiable talent who want to play here. There are the rare exceptions: Carlos Boozer came here during the off-season via free agency, but then it’s hard to say no when someone is offering to pay you close to $70 million per year. Karl Malone had a great career here; Adrian Dantly even spent some time with the Jazz. But years ago, Ron Harper said it best when the Mavericks attempted to trade him to Utah, “There ain’t no way I’m playing in Salt Lake City.”
Another reason that the Jazz will not make a trade is the same reason why a lot of other teams in the league don’t make trades: the salary cap. For years owner Larry Miller has pinched pennies in an effort to make sure he won’t be paying the league’s “talent tax” which forces owners to match dollar for dollar when they go over the cap. While you can’t blame Miller for being stingier than a rusted nail, he does have some culpability when it comes to bringing top talent to Utah. Miller has to realize that for the reasons mentioned above, he is going to have to pay above market value to attract and keep top talent here in Utah. Until he realizes it, the Jazz will continue to struggle.
With the dirty work out of the way, let’s move on to the fun part of the column and hypothesize what the Jazz need to do (in no particular order) in order to stay competitive:
Build around Andrei Kirilinko: In the off-season the Jazz made on of the smartest moves they have ever made: they gave a 23 year old a max contract. Yes, you read that correctly. AK47 is the future of this franchise. If the Jazz want to maximize the ROI on this deal, they need to invest, ideally in a point guard and center who will complement Andrei’s many talents.
Get a decent Center: This has ALWAYS been the missing piece of the puzzle for the Jazz. If they had a Center who was able to breath during the 1997 and 1998 years, the Jazz are back-to-back champions, no questions asked. The last true center the Jazz had was Mark Eaton, and that was 15 years ago. If the Jazz have any hope of reclaiming a playoff spot, they need a man in the middle.
Replace John Stockton: Replacing one of the greatest ever to play the game is never easy. Every PG that plays for the Jazz from now on will always be compared to the six-footer from Gonzaga. The Jazz had the right idea a couple of years ago by bringing in veteran leadership in Mark Jackson with the hope that Mark could nurture Carlos Arroyo and Raul Lopez into true NBA point guards. It hasn’t worked out as planned. Everybody in the state, including the female ex-governor has been given the chance to replace Stockton, but all that’s come out of the situation is Carlos Arroyo being shipped out of town.
Bring back Karl Malone: Although this is about as likely to happen as me enjoying a trip to my (ex) in-laws, the Jazz would benefit from the leadership the Mailman brings. What’s more, Karl would still impose a significant (although diminishing) threat to opposing teams, thereby opening up more scoring opportunities for Andrei.
Draft well, draft often: With their current record and no drastic changes in sight, the Jazz are guaranteeing themselves a spot in this year’s Lotto. There should be plenty of help to assist the Jazz in filling the trouble spots listed above. The Jazz have had success in the past in bringing in foreign players and grooming them to the NBA game.
The Jazz are a young diverse group of players. They have a fantastic coach in Jerry Sloan who has a demonstrated history of getting his players to play his style of basketball. Let’s hope that if the Jazz do make any moves, they only add tremendous upside to the team, which at this point, wouldn’t be too difficult to do.
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