Thursday report
It's looking like the Jazz have pretty much four options when it comes to dealing with the Gordan Giricek situation. They could buy out his contract, trade him now, deactivate him and trade him later or try to ride things out the rest of the season.
Buying out his contract might be the best option out of a not-so-great bunch. The Jazz owe Giricek about $2.6 million on his expiring contract and though owner Larry Miller strongly dislikes buyouts, the Jazz did agree to one four years ago with Glen Rice.
Giricek would immediately become a free agent and thus able to sign with another team for the rest of this season. Judging from the number of calls the Jazz got Thursday, there is interest in Giricek around the league.
Most likely a buyout would be initiated by Giricek's camp, with the Jazz subtracting the value of whatever new contract was offered by another team from what they still owe. It would bring a relatively quick end to things without clouding their salary-cap picture.
The Jazz could follow the route Indiana took with Ron Artest and deactivate Giricek while they look to make a trade. Artest was OK with being told not to show up, but the question with this would be if Giricek would file a grievance with the NBA Players Association.
They also could try to make a quick trade, although Giricek's greatest value to teams is largely as an expiring contract. They get rid of a player with multiple years left on his deal for the one year left on Giricek's contract.
It appeals especially to teams that are over the luxury-tax threshold or trying to avoid going over it. The Jazz absolutely refuse to take on the wrong contract for the wrong player, though, especially with Deron Williams due for a potential max extension this summer.
The last option is for Giricek and Sloan to suck it up and coexist the rest of the season. Given that they couldn't make it two months without clashing, it's a roll of the dice that there wouldn't be more flare-ups from now until April.
Sloan has pushed conflicts like this aside in the past (Greg Ostertag is one example) but I'm sure Sloan also will have a key say whenever he meets with GM Kevin O'Connor and is asked if he still wants Giricek around.
There'll be more on Giricek in Friday's paper.
* * *
Jazz owner Larry Miller had some interesting things to say on the radio Thursday. You can start with his declaration that "These next five to 10 games are legitimately a critical period in this team's history."
Miller did say that he's never gone to O'Connor and told him it was time to make a trade, but the suggestion was there Thursday. Miller said the Jazz's December slide has kept him awake at night.
Miller brought up Mehmet Okur's "stellar" .153 batting average (see, we're not crazy for running this every day in the paper) and said: "Memo has absolutely disappeared on us. But that was last year at the All-Star Game and [he] didn't make it back yet."
"I'm not sure what on earth has happened with him," Miller added.
Not only did he reveal that Okur wasn't going to play in the final two games of the Jazz trip, Miller said the anti-inflammatories Matt Harpring is taking for the pain in his surgically repaired knee are believed to be the cause behind the episodes when he becomes violently ill.
That doesn't raise too many issues for the rest of Harpring's career, does it?
There also are people in Miller's ear telling him that Deron Williams is trying to play too much of a two-man game with Carlos Boozer and that Williams is looking to shoot first and pass second.
Miller additionally said that if the Jazz continue to flip-flop between backup shooting guards, he'd like to see rookie Morris Almond recalled from the D-League and given a chance at the job. "Let's develop him," Miller said, "because at least he can shoot."
Although Miller said he talks mostly to O'Connor and less so with Sloan, he did sound fascinated with the possibility of just starting the Nos. 8 through 12 players on the Jazz bench and just seeing what they could do with minutes.
* * *
The Jazz finally got the chance to practice Thursday and there were a couple of notes I couldn't get in the paper. We bring them to you here.
ZONED IN
The Jazz have fallen apart against zone defenses three times in the last week, giving back big leads in losing to Portland, Atlanta and Charlotte. They have been guilty of forcing passes at times, but Sloan thought there was a bigger factor at work.
"You break a zone by making shots," Sloan said. "You have to be able to make some outside shots. You can't always get layups. That's one of the things we've had a difficult time doing is making shots."
The Jazz are connecting on just 3.6 three-pointers a game, barely half that of their opponents, and just sent home Gordan Giricek, a career 36.8 percent three-point shooter.
CLOCKED OUT
After watching his players commit four turnovers in the final six minutes against the Charlotte zone, Sloan didn't mince words in saying what he'd rather see instead.
"If it's not there, don't throw it," Sloan said. "The 24-second clock should run out. At least your defense has a chance to get back and get set so you can preserve the lead."
--Ross Siler
Buying out his contract might be the best option out of a not-so-great bunch. The Jazz owe Giricek about $2.6 million on his expiring contract and though owner Larry Miller strongly dislikes buyouts, the Jazz did agree to one four years ago with Glen Rice.
Giricek would immediately become a free agent and thus able to sign with another team for the rest of this season. Judging from the number of calls the Jazz got Thursday, there is interest in Giricek around the league.
Most likely a buyout would be initiated by Giricek's camp, with the Jazz subtracting the value of whatever new contract was offered by another team from what they still owe. It would bring a relatively quick end to things without clouding their salary-cap picture.
The Jazz could follow the route Indiana took with Ron Artest and deactivate Giricek while they look to make a trade. Artest was OK with being told not to show up, but the question with this would be if Giricek would file a grievance with the NBA Players Association.
They also could try to make a quick trade, although Giricek's greatest value to teams is largely as an expiring contract. They get rid of a player with multiple years left on his deal for the one year left on Giricek's contract.
It appeals especially to teams that are over the luxury-tax threshold or trying to avoid going over it. The Jazz absolutely refuse to take on the wrong contract for the wrong player, though, especially with Deron Williams due for a potential max extension this summer.
The last option is for Giricek and Sloan to suck it up and coexist the rest of the season. Given that they couldn't make it two months without clashing, it's a roll of the dice that there wouldn't be more flare-ups from now until April.
Sloan has pushed conflicts like this aside in the past (Greg Ostertag is one example) but I'm sure Sloan also will have a key say whenever he meets with GM Kevin O'Connor and is asked if he still wants Giricek around.
There'll be more on Giricek in Friday's paper.
* * *
Jazz owner Larry Miller had some interesting things to say on the radio Thursday. You can start with his declaration that "These next five to 10 games are legitimately a critical period in this team's history."
Miller did say that he's never gone to O'Connor and told him it was time to make a trade, but the suggestion was there Thursday. Miller said the Jazz's December slide has kept him awake at night.
Miller brought up Mehmet Okur's "stellar" .153 batting average (see, we're not crazy for running this every day in the paper) and said: "Memo has absolutely disappeared on us. But that was last year at the All-Star Game and [he] didn't make it back yet."
"I'm not sure what on earth has happened with him," Miller added.
Not only did he reveal that Okur wasn't going to play in the final two games of the Jazz trip, Miller said the anti-inflammatories Matt Harpring is taking for the pain in his surgically repaired knee are believed to be the cause behind the episodes when he becomes violently ill.
That doesn't raise too many issues for the rest of Harpring's career, does it?
There also are people in Miller's ear telling him that Deron Williams is trying to play too much of a two-man game with Carlos Boozer and that Williams is looking to shoot first and pass second.
Miller additionally said that if the Jazz continue to flip-flop between backup shooting guards, he'd like to see rookie Morris Almond recalled from the D-League and given a chance at the job. "Let's develop him," Miller said, "because at least he can shoot."
Although Miller said he talks mostly to O'Connor and less so with Sloan, he did sound fascinated with the possibility of just starting the Nos. 8 through 12 players on the Jazz bench and just seeing what they could do with minutes.
* * *
The Jazz finally got the chance to practice Thursday and there were a couple of notes I couldn't get in the paper. We bring them to you here.
ZONED IN
The Jazz have fallen apart against zone defenses three times in the last week, giving back big leads in losing to Portland, Atlanta and Charlotte. They have been guilty of forcing passes at times, but Sloan thought there was a bigger factor at work.
"You break a zone by making shots," Sloan said. "You have to be able to make some outside shots. You can't always get layups. That's one of the things we've had a difficult time doing is making shots."
The Jazz are connecting on just 3.6 three-pointers a game, barely half that of their opponents, and just sent home Gordan Giricek, a career 36.8 percent three-point shooter.
CLOCKED OUT
After watching his players commit four turnovers in the final six minutes against the Charlotte zone, Sloan didn't mince words in saying what he'd rather see instead.
"If it's not there, don't throw it," Sloan said. "The 24-second clock should run out. At least your defense has a chance to get back and get set so you can preserve the lead."
--Ross Siler
9:41 PM
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