Derek Fisher and his wife flew out from New York to meet with Jazz owner Larry Miller and other team officials to ask for his release from the team so that he can concentrate on his daughter’s care.

His daughter of course was diagnosed with retinoblastoma earlier this year. In his statement, Fisher said,

Life for me outweighs the game of basketball,

I imagine it didn’t take much convincing for Miller to agree to release him from his contract. Miller said that Fisher “leaves a legacy” and “He’s focused on the most important thing.

Regardless of your position on Fisher, you can’t argue his decision here at all. And I can’t think of any other Jazz player that was here for such a short time, that had this big of an impact on the team and franchise. I imagine we’ll hear many statements from the other Jazz players tomorrow. He really did provide that intangible leadership that willed the Jazz to play better and to be better people. And there’s no more noticeable example than game 2 of the 2007 playoffs against the Warriors. He will be missed immensely and the Jazz have truly lost one of the great men in this game.

Derek said that he has no plans to retire, but that it’s not out of the question. I would guess he would sign with a team back east where he could be closer to specialists. I can’t see him going to NY, but maybe Boston or Detroit? Doesn’t seem right to speculate on that now.

And then of course there’s the obvious effect this will have on Jazz personnel. You have to thank Fisher for letting the team know early of his plans. That way he doesn’t leave Utah in a bind by announcing his intentions later. By letting them know early, they can plan accordingly. It just goes to show what kind of person he is. More coming on this later, but I imagine that Jazz will speed up the process of re-signing Dee Brown and step up their efforts to bring in Peterson.

Whatever may come, I’m sure I can say for all Jazz fans that we wish him the best of luck in his future professional career and more importantly, a complete and healthy recovery for his daughter. I know a lot of prayers will be said for his family.

Technorati tags: utah jazz, derek fisher

The Utah Jazz look like one of the front-runners to land Morris Peterson. According to the SL Trib, the Jazz were on the phone with him within a few minutes of the free-agency period. There haven’t been any contract offers yet, but according to reports, Peterson would love to play for the Jazz. He also considers the Jazz ‘”a piece away from being in the NBA Finals next year.”‘

If Peterson did indeed sign with the Jazz, there would be some major repercussions. First, Giricek would almost certainly have to be on his way out. He’s the odd-man out of the group that would include Mo-Pete, Brewer, CJ Miles, Almond, and Derek Fisher. He would become a starter, but although he can play the small forward, AK currently inhabits that position. So that would mean Fisher would have to be the backup PG (which he should be), but also Dee Brown would be the third option. Would that push him to sign somewhere else where he could be at least the main backup? The starting five would likely be Williams and Peterson in the backcourt and AK, Okur, and Boozer up front.

The second team would be Fisher and Brewer/Miles/Almond/(whoever is in best with Sloan) and Millsap, Harpring, and Collins (if not traded). And it looks like they will re-sign Araujo. That’s not too bad.

The best part of the Peterson signing would be his defense. No longer would would shooting guards get a guaranteed 50 a night.

Also, does having Williams & to a point Boozer bring the Jazz some street cred? In the pre-2005 days, it was near impossible to bring free agents in to Utah. Heck, we couldn’t even bring in Ron Seikly via a trade. I don’t mean anything racial, but does having Williams/Boozer open up the door to other black players being more willing to come to Utah?

And the most important question is would Millsap keep #24 if Peterson comes to Utah? Usually the veterans play the current players for their number. Maybe Peterson doesn’t care about what number he wears. But if he does take 24, how many pissed off Millsap-jersey owners would there be? It looks like the only safe jersey purchases now right now are #5 & #8.