Or will they? Seth from Bright Side of the Sun dropped this little tidbit,
Late last night we learned from Paul Coro that the Suns were actually trying to flip Illgauskus to Utah in exchange for Carlos Boozer who also is an expiring contract. Surely, Utah would have wanted more than Big Z's expiring, though. Right? Unless maybe they thought they could get by with just Milsap and this deal got them under the luxury tax. Regardless, it didn't happen and quite honestly it is going to be difficult to know which side of the story to believe since all parties have an interest in spinning things.
Whaaaat? I can't believe the Jazz would have been seriously considering that deal.
For those that wanted Kevin Martin, sorry, looks like he's a Rocket. Like I said in the Rockets quasi-preview, I'm glad we played them before they made a trade. We still have to face them a couple more times this season though. They needed this to get back into the playoff hunt.
Sactown Royalty says goodbye to Martin and says hello to Carl Landry. The Dreamshake is ecstatic.
Of course the other part of that deal is sending McGrady to the Kings as well, so he won't be able to damage the Knicks for us. Now you can hope that he helps the Kings get above the Knicks in the standings. I also wonder what kind of influence he'll be on Tyreke Evans. He won't be there long enough to make a serious impact on him I don't think.
Via @tribjazz, the Cleveland Plaindealer reported that "several" teams had inquired about the KOOF. First, you do not inquire about the KOOF, the KOOF seeks you.
Second, as Siler pointed out, this was probably just to get the KOOF's name out there. But this is the first time I've heard that the KOOF might be disgruntled.
If the Jazz do not make a trade today, and that's likely, I wonder if we'll be at the end of the season looking back and wishing they had. If that happens, obviously we will have been bounced from the playoffs. What we don't know is how far the Jazz will get and if making a trade would have helped.
The road to the finals goes through LA though and I don't think we have what it takes to beat them in a seven-game series; maybe nobody does. But one thing we do need if we're to have a chance is some length on the inside or a scorer to stretch their D. There are players the Jazz could make an offer for but at what cost? There's the additional money they would have to take on, which they've said they would do. You're also going to have to give up someone or some thing to acquire those players. Do we have anyone that anyone wants? We have a couple of expiring deals, but I don't know if that's enough to get any big names, especially since it looks like Boozer won't be going anywhere.
I think we can beat almost any other team in the West in the playoffs. We'll just have to hope that someone else upsets LA first.
This is perhaps more fitting for an off-season Downbeat, but I couldn't pass it up. From Protect the Paint,
