The Jazz have traded 24-year old shooting guard Ronnie Brewer to the Grizzlies for a lottery protected first round pick in 2011. Brewer played in 53 games (all starts) for the Jazz this season and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 9.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He finishes his career with the Jazz having played in 266 games (223 starts) in which he averaged 26.4 minutes, 10.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. This trade looks money driven and for that reason I don’t like it. The Jazz are hot right now and they didn’t need to subtract a starting player from the team.

The Jazz have traded 22-year old point guard Eric Maynor and 33-year old SG/SF Matt Harpring to the Thunder for 2002 2nd round pick Peter Fehse. Maynor played in 26 games (2 starts) for the Jazz this season and he averaged 14.0 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Matt Harpring has not played at all this season due to injury. He played in 63 games (2 starts) last season for the Jazz and he averaged 11.0 minutes, 4.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Fehse has never played in a NBA game and he likely won’t for the Jazz either. This trade saves the Jazz $13 million bucks and that is why they were willing to trade Maynor to the Thunder.

The 6’1” 170 pound John Stockton always looked more like your average Joe rather than one of the best point guards of all time.  The unassuming Stockton starred at Gonzaga before going 16^th in the 1984 NBA draft to the Utah Jazz, where he and Karl “The Mailman” Malone wreaked havoc on NBA defenses with their perfected and nearly unstoppable pick and roll.  Stockton averaged  13.1 ppg and 10.5 apg and finished his career with 15,806 assists, a number no other player is even close to (Mark Jackson is 2^nd all-time with 10,334 assists).  Stockton also has the most steals in NBA history with 3,265.  Stockton was always known for his toughness and “old school” style and look, donning those short shorts long after the baggy shorts became popular. 

Stockton’s coach, Jerry Sloan, is also headed to the Hall of Fame this year.  Sloan helped lead Stockton and Malone to two NBA finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, losing both to the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls.  Sloan was known for his toughness and defense as a player with the Chicago Bulls and brought that mentality to his coaching style.  Sloan became the head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1979 and stayed there until 1982, before joining the Utah Jazz in 1988.  Sloan is the longest tenured coach not only in the NBA but also in all of the American major league sports as he is still the head coach of the Utah Jazz.  The 67-year-old Sloan definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame with a career record of 1136-747, coached two hall of famers in Stockton and Malone, had 15 straight playoff appearances from 1988-2003, and yet he has uncharacteristically never won the NBA coach of the year award.

 The Hall of Fame ceremonies are from September 10-12 in Springfield, Massachusetts and the other members of the Class of 2009 inductees includes the great Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan, San Antonio Spurs’ great David Robinson, and Rutgers University women’s head coach Vivian Stringer.

The Utah Jazz have been really busy in re-signing their own players to keep the team together. Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, Mehmet Okur and Ronnie Price have all been re-signed to new contracts and that’s a good thing. Carlos Boozer exercised his option on his contract and then started complaining that he wanted out of town. The Jazz are looking right now to trade Boozer as Paul Millsap is more than ready to step into the starting lineup. The Jazz also selected Eric Maynor (PG) and Goran Sutton (PF) in the NBA Draft but neither will likely get much playing time this season.

OFF-SEASON GRADE FOR THE FRONT OFFICE SO FAR: B+

The Jazz have matched the 4-year, $32 million dollar offer to power forward Paul Millsap. The 24-year old is a key to the Jazz’ future and they could not afford to have a rival get them on their team. Millsap played in 76 games (38 starts) last season for the Jazz and he averaged 30.1 minutes, 13.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 1 blocked shot per game. He has now played in 240 games (41 starts) in his three year NBA career and he has averaged 22.8 minutes, 9.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. The Jazz really need to trade Carlos Boozer to open up a starting job for Millsap, pronto!