ducks
06-23-2006, 09:32 AM
Jazz listening to trade offers
No untouchables: But vice president O'Connor says team not openly shopping Boozer
By Steve Luhm
The Salt Lake Tribune
Carlos Boozer
For the right price, any player on the Jazz's roster could be traded, vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor said Thursday.
But O'Connor suggested that word around the league that he's shopping power forward Carlos Boozer was overstating the team's position.
"At this time of the year - with the draft coming up and everything - everybody's name is out there," O'Connor said.
"Are we having discussions, trying to make our team better? Absolutely. That's what we're supposed to do."
Asked if the Jazz's list of untouchable players included only three players - Andrei Kirilenko, Memo Okur and Deron Williams - O'Connor shook his head.
"There are not any untouchables," he said. "At the same time, we're not looking to trade some of our core players. We'd like to keep them together and see if we can build on the success we had at the end of last season. But remember: Shaq got traded, Wilt [Chamberlain] got traded and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] got traded. So . . ."
Boozer's name is always the first to come up in trade rumors regarding the Jazz, mostly because his ability intrigues other teams and his first two seasons in Utah have been plagued by injuries.
After signing a six-year, $68 million deal in 2004, he played in 51 games before missing the final 31 with a foot injury.
Last year, Boozer missed the first 49 games with a hamstring injury before playing the final 33.
Down the stretch, Boozer averaged 16.3 points and 8.6 rebounds. He shot 54.9 percent from the field, which would have ranked third in the league if he had played enough games to qualify.
The notion that Boozer's unhappiness in Utah resulted in a slower-than-necessary return from the hamstring injury led to suggestions that the Jazz would be willing to trade him.
Just before the trade deadline last season, several media outlets reported the Jazz
Advertisement
Click Here
and Lakers had finalized a deal that would have sent Boozer to L.A. for Caron Butler, Devean George and the contract of Vlade Divac.
It didn't happen, and Boozer played well in the final month of the season.
The Jazz went 17-16 with Boozer on the floor, including a 9-4 finish. Only the fact that Utah was chasing two of the hottest teams in the league - the Lakers and Kings - prevented it from sneaking into the Western Conference playoffs as the No. 7 or No. 8 seed.
Said O'Connor: "In the last 25 games, he shot over 55 percent from the field, rebounded the ball extremely well, played better defense than he did before and was a good teammate. That's not a guy who is totally disgruntled" in Utah.
O'Connor declined to name any teams interested in Boozer, but Milwaukee is trying to trade center Jamaal Magloire and has talked to Utah.
The Bucks want to peddle Magloire so second-year man Andrew Bogut can move from power forward to his natural position of center. If Milwaukee could get Boozer from the Jazz, his presence could help make that happen.
Magloire (6-feet-11, 259 pounds) averaged 9.2 points and 9.5 rebounds in 82 games last season. In five playoff games against Detroit, he averaged 9.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in 27 minutes.
The 28-year old is scheduled to make $8.5 million in 2006-07, the final year of his contract.
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_3970656
No untouchables: But vice president O'Connor says team not openly shopping Boozer
By Steve Luhm
The Salt Lake Tribune
Carlos Boozer
For the right price, any player on the Jazz's roster could be traded, vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor said Thursday.
But O'Connor suggested that word around the league that he's shopping power forward Carlos Boozer was overstating the team's position.
"At this time of the year - with the draft coming up and everything - everybody's name is out there," O'Connor said.
"Are we having discussions, trying to make our team better? Absolutely. That's what we're supposed to do."
Asked if the Jazz's list of untouchable players included only three players - Andrei Kirilenko, Memo Okur and Deron Williams - O'Connor shook his head.
"There are not any untouchables," he said. "At the same time, we're not looking to trade some of our core players. We'd like to keep them together and see if we can build on the success we had at the end of last season. But remember: Shaq got traded, Wilt [Chamberlain] got traded and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] got traded. So . . ."
Boozer's name is always the first to come up in trade rumors regarding the Jazz, mostly because his ability intrigues other teams and his first two seasons in Utah have been plagued by injuries.
After signing a six-year, $68 million deal in 2004, he played in 51 games before missing the final 31 with a foot injury.
Last year, Boozer missed the first 49 games with a hamstring injury before playing the final 33.
Down the stretch, Boozer averaged 16.3 points and 8.6 rebounds. He shot 54.9 percent from the field, which would have ranked third in the league if he had played enough games to qualify.
The notion that Boozer's unhappiness in Utah resulted in a slower-than-necessary return from the hamstring injury led to suggestions that the Jazz would be willing to trade him.
Just before the trade deadline last season, several media outlets reported the Jazz
Advertisement
Click Here
and Lakers had finalized a deal that would have sent Boozer to L.A. for Caron Butler, Devean George and the contract of Vlade Divac.
It didn't happen, and Boozer played well in the final month of the season.
The Jazz went 17-16 with Boozer on the floor, including a 9-4 finish. Only the fact that Utah was chasing two of the hottest teams in the league - the Lakers and Kings - prevented it from sneaking into the Western Conference playoffs as the No. 7 or No. 8 seed.
Said O'Connor: "In the last 25 games, he shot over 55 percent from the field, rebounded the ball extremely well, played better defense than he did before and was a good teammate. That's not a guy who is totally disgruntled" in Utah.
O'Connor declined to name any teams interested in Boozer, but Milwaukee is trying to trade center Jamaal Magloire and has talked to Utah.
The Bucks want to peddle Magloire so second-year man Andrew Bogut can move from power forward to his natural position of center. If Milwaukee could get Boozer from the Jazz, his presence could help make that happen.
Magloire (6-feet-11, 259 pounds) averaged 9.2 points and 9.5 rebounds in 82 games last season. In five playoff games against Detroit, he averaged 9.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in 27 minutes.
The 28-year old is scheduled to make $8.5 million in 2006-07, the final year of his contract.
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_3970656