Trade Talk: What Were They Thinking in Utah??

First, the Jazz lost their leader when Jerry Sloan resigned after 23 plus years as Head Coach. Now, they’ve lost their on-the-court leader, All-Star point guard Deron Williams, who is rumored to have run Jerry Sloan off the bench and out of town.

In a deal no one saw coming, Utah sent Williams to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for former Dallas Maverick Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, and first round draft picks for the next two years.

If the allegations against Williams are true and he is a “coach killer,” then Karma has kicked him in the butt by shipping him to the veritable basketball wasteland known as New Jersey. (This is my personal theory, especially since I adored Jerry Sloan – I find it much easier to make Deron out to be the bad guy!) If Williams thought he had it rough and was too reined in under Sloan, just wait ‘til he gets to Jersey and works under Avery Johnson. Devin Harris could teach Williams a thing or two about playing for “The Little General”, seeing as how he was forced to do it not once, but twice. Harris was drafted by the Mavericks, playing for Johnson until he was traded to the Nets in exchange for Jason Kidd. Poor Devin must have thought he had served his time; imagine his shock (and likely dismay) when Avery Johnson was named as the Nets’ new head coach this past offseason! Devin Harris is the biggest winner in this deal, if for no other reason than he has once again been released from Avery Johnson’s grasp.

While I am happy for Harris, and the impish side of me is thrilled that Williams was banished to Jersey, I have to wonder what on God’s green Earth the ownership and management team in Salt Lake City is thinking. They let Sloan leave, conceivably siding with Williams and choosing the ‘future of the organization’ over its ‘storied history’, only to cut Williams loose a week later? Maybe if Utah is really lucky, Sloan will return to the bench now that Williams is gone but if I were him, I sure wouldn’t.

One thing is certain: the balance of power in the NBA is shifting itself from the Western conference to the East coast, and it should make for a fun, fascinating, and fantastic final few months of the season.

And until the 3pm trade deadline tomorrow, the plot can still continue to thicken.

Stay tuned…