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NBA Trade Deadline: Jazz Guard Raja Bell still available . . . no really guys . . . we're ready to talk

Stephen Dunn

Right now the Utah Jazz have a full roster. There are 15 guys getting paid every two weeks, and we don't have any space left to take anyone else on. This meant that back when we were running out there with 0.5 point guards we could not add a new one even if we wanted to. We had previously run into the same situation over the last few years and added Blake Ahearn, Kyle Weaver, Sundiata Gaines all from the NBA Developmental League midseason. We could not do that this year so we were actually forced to play Alec Burks, whom we were already paying multi-millions to sit and watch others play basketball. It worked out in the end, I think. But it seems to be Jazz strategy to retain flexibility by having less than a maximum number of players on the books.

So this is where Raja Bell comes in. We've kept him out of sight / out of mind all year long and did not buy him out. We eschewed our own company policy and basketball doctrines by paying someone not to play. (Oh wait, don't we already do that with our lottery picks?) (Yeah, I went there.) We also went beyond our desired doctrine of having more than 14 people on contract at the same time. Well, the main justification for keeping him was to be used in a trade to make the trade work.

It's now or never as the trade deadline is this Thursday.

If we do make a trade, and Raja is involved, then our sloth was validated. If we do make a trade, but Raja was not involved, then I guess no harm / no foul. If we don't make a trade because we couldn't do it because our roster would be over 15 players, then I guess it is a harm / foul situation. And I guess . . . if we don't make a trade, and don't do anything, and also don't cut Raja Bell . . . then someone is asleep at the wheel, right?

What would you trade Raja Bell for? A tire rotation? A box of old camera film? A mobile phone charger for a phone you don't own? The rights to a D-League Player? Whatever it is . . . Miami Heat / Los Angeles Lakers . . . you guys can mail us back some of your unsold championship year DVDs. We'll take it.