Here’s a preview from KSL.com for an interview with Andrei Kirilenko’s return to Utah and the upcoming season after he requested to be traded.

Andrei Kirilenko Interview Preview

As one former Jazz man leaves for Turkey, the presiding Turk has landed in the SLC.  Memo was back early working out with…  Coach Corbin?  Apparently Memo’s double wasn’t available.  And even looking at Sloan in this pic looks like he could get out on the floor and D up some players.

This will be my last post about AK barring a trade or until he does/doesn’t show up for training camp.  Thanks to the slow NBA off-season and with training camp starting up in  a few days, the AK and Marion trade demands have been discussed ad nauseam.  It’s even to the point where ad nauseam has been used to the point of ad nauseam.

Nothing more can be added?  Well, there’s always room for green j-ello in the Beehive State.  The obvious trade that works out for the Jazz that nets them the most for an AK trade is obviously with Phoenix.  We would have to send Giricek and take on Banks probably.  Another ad nauseam topic: despite every Suns fan’s dream that they would simply be taking Millsap off our hands in any trade, it isn’t going to happen.  I should post that PHX would have to add Amare to make the deal work.  Now of course I’m not saying that Millsap is as good as Stoudemire, but the reaction Suns fans would have to that proposal is that same one that Jazz fans have. 

And by now we know that Marion has demanded a trade.  It’s an obvious deal that should happen.  Even The Sports Guy said the trade should happen.  The Jazz would get Marion and Banks and the Suns would get AK and Giricek.  The Jazz benefit in that they’re rid of a disgruntled player and they’d save beaucoup dollars to pay Deron and Mansap in a couple years.  Marion would give the Jazz an athletic three who is capable of knocking down the outside shot.  And they don’t lose much defensively.  And the financial bonus comes when Marion opts out of his contract next year.  If he stays with the Suns and does that, they get nothing for him.

The Suns get one of the only players available that could replace the defense and slashing of Marion.  And as we’ve seen from the GS playoff series last year, Kirilenko thrives in that situation.  Maybe he would even move up to the second or third option.  Of course they’re stuck with AK’s contract for four more years.

Aside from his obvious basketball talents, it appears we would be getting the same fragile-type player in return.  At TrueHoop, there’s a column concerning Marion’s perceived insecurity.  Read through that article and instead of Marion/Nash, substitute AK/Williams.  Almost the entire article reflects the same situation with our two.  Marion will come here and still wouldn’t be the the #1 or #2 guy on offense.  And how would he take Sloan as a coach?  He doesn’t really have an error in translation excuse.

So apparently AK’s & Sloan’s rendezvous didn’t heal wounds.  But at least Sloan was up front with AK after the season and told him that the play situation wouldn’t change next year.  Maybe a Sloan trip to the Mother Land would have changed things.  But I doubt Sloan would have said anything other than you better be in camp on Oct. 1.

So as much as it pains me to write it, I think the trade needs to happen.  If we’re going to have an insecure, slashing, athletic, high-jumpin’ player, it might as well only be for one year.

EXTRA: HarpringSucks has one of the best pieces I’ve seen on the subject.  You know, in case you’re not experiencing the ad nauseam.

I was going to include this with my next post, and although there’s not much to warrant a separate post, it didn’t really belong with a AK/Marion topic.  Scary stuff about Carlos Boozer’s boy.  According to the Trib, one of his boys has sickle cell anemia and is recovering from a bone-marrow transplant.  It wasn’t specified which boy ( he just had twins in July to go with an older son).  And there’s apparently a 60-80% chance that the transplant will cure him.  Prayers are of course with Boozer and family.  And we’ll see him in camp when his boy is well enough.

A post about the a Marion/AK swap later, but first, onto the links:

• Dee Brown is watching over us right now - Dee’s off to Constantinople Instanbul. And remember Dee,

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you’ve a date in Constantinople
She’ll be waiting in Istanbul

• And speaking of the Turks - Memo thinks Brown will do well in Turkey. But he reminds him to get “a few chances at eating some of the greatest fish meals on my behalf on the Bosphorus.” Fish in Turkey? Weird. And Memo also says sorry about almost breaking your back.
• And speaking of backs - Memo has AK’s. Memo gives the expected response. It’s not like Deron’s comments on the situation, but both are true.  It’s times like these that I wish Karl was still on the team so we could hear his opinion.
• It’s 1:30, do you know where your PG is? - Henry Abbot is out in the NYC with NBA players including Deron Williams. The players are there posing with the trophy for what appears to be for a now cliche “hug and kiss the trophy and tell us how bad you want it” shoot. Maybe it will be something different and I’ll be surprised.
• Shawn Stockon sends the Montana Grizzlies to the NCAA finals! - Well, he might have the chance.  How would you like your name to be “Shawn Stockton, nephew of NBA legend John Stockton?”
• Okay, a little on the AK/Marion possible trade - This is only one of many, many sites that I’ve read where the author states they would trade Marion for AK, but only if PHX were to get Millsap too. Here’s the trade on the trade machine.  But here’s one with them straight up and it still works.  If PHX is looking for a little something extra, they could try this one, which also works.  If you’re getting anyone else, it’s Giricek and his expiring contract with the Jazz taking back Banks or something similar.  I know people tend to over valuate their own possessions, teams, etc., but come on. Do you think any sane GM would do that deal if they were running Utah? Can you imagine the riots in Utah? Or at least in my house? Millsap is going nowhere.
• Boozer shows how you can never be like him - Boozer video showing off his post moves. Maybe he could package this along with Yi’s moves against chairs?
• Suckers

Technorati tags: utah jazz, andrei kirilenko, mehmet okur, dee brown, deron williams, john stockton

If you have, please contact the the Champaign County, Il, sheriff.  Seems like Keon doesn’t like to show up for things such as sentencings, court dates, or basketball games.  He’d much rather be smoking the wacky weed and flashing a piece without a firearm owner’s permit.

His sentence from the judge was a 30-month stint in prison.  Because as the prosecuting attorney states,

“He has grown accustomed to a certain kind of lifestyle where he has not been held accountable,” Lindsey Clark said. “He’s simply been able to pay his way out of anything.”

Keon’s attorney, James Dedman (not exactly a last name that give confidence as a defense attorney) doesn’t even try to defend Clark and instead offers the following,

“His record and his behavior suggests he has a serious mental problem.  It’s possible he’s unfit to stand trial or be sentenced, or that he’s insane.”

And they say marijuana has no affect on the brain.  And that’s not all.  He still faces charges in Vermillion County for “of not having a firearm owner’s identification card, making a false report, two charges of driving on a suspended license, and criminal damage to property.”

Is there a pot-smoking 101 at UNLV?  Keon, we never knew thee.

No AK story is complete without hearing it from the NBA’s resident wife. On her blog, Jackie weighs in on AK’s situation while her husband Doug is still looking for work (I love the book jacket-type blurbs). But by reading between the lines, we get what Jackie was really saying about the NBA:

Original text:

The thought of giving up $63 million is mind-boggling, but the thought of playing ball under duress is probably even worse. So I guess Andrei Kirilenko must be in a situation that warrants this kind of move. The game should be fun and it should be something you look forward to doing. NBA players are highly-skilled professional athletes that have usually spent a great deal of their lives training for it. Yes, $63 million is a whole lot of money and most would not even think about giving it back once it’s theirs… But this takes me back to that thing called sacrifice. And in life, it is going to come up here and there. It must be chosen or not.

Doug was injured and needed surgery one and a half years ago and finally had it done, but only after he made the decision to sacrifice playing to go under the knife. He knew it would be a very long road back and now he is ready to go. The lesson here is this… All that glitters ain’t gold, so sometimes even in pro sports you have to make a decision to do what’s in the best interest of everyone involved – even if it means giving up the money.

But extracting pertinent details, here’s what we get:

The thought of $63 million is mind-boggling. But I must be in a situation that warrants this move. NBA players are high.  Professional athletes have usually spent a great deal of it. Yes, $63 million is a whole lot of money. Think about giving it back. It’s theirs. It must be chosen.

The lesson here is this: all that gold. So sometimes, even in pro sports, you have to make a decision to do what’s in the best interest of everyone involved, the money.

So if AK ends up not playing for Utah this year, I’m sure Doug will take a part of that money. And the Jazz would probably give it to him.

Technorati tags: doug christie, andrei kirilenko, jackie christie, utah jazz

When Dee said a few days ago that he would be out in Utah to “handle a little business,” I figured something was up. It looks like the One Man Fast Break will be heading to Turkey to play this year. I guess we should have seen it coming. He’s playing golf this weekend at Thanksgiving Point? Turkey? Should have seen it coming.

He didn’t mention the team he would be playing for, but it would be in the TBL. I couldn’t find much on Wikipedia or other sites about signings.

Is Memo still in Turkey? Maybe that’s why he has to be there by Wednesday. And if Okur is pimping Dimes, what will Dee pitch?

Glad to hear that he’s got somewhere to play. I really think he could have done well in Milwaukee if they hadn’t resigned Bell. He could certainly even end up back in the NBA this year if he plays well enough. There’s always some body that needs a guard due to injury or poor play. If he tears it up there, it will be hard for NBA teams not to notice. I hope he keeps up his blog.

Technorati tags: dee brown, utah jazz

 
Jazzbots.com, the official blog site of the Utah Jazz is online.  Yes, the same blog site that turned me down.  I’ll hold off on any comments until it’s had time to mature.  But we should get some interesting behind-the-scenes stories.

On his whirlwind tour of Utah and Idaho for the Jr. Jazz program, Dee stops off for some fishing.  Apparently this is his first time.  And being from Idaho/Utah, the idea that someone hasn’t done something as simple as fishing before, when I’ve done it pretty much my whole life, is baffling.  I know he’s from Chicago, but there’s Lake Michigan.  And it can’t be too far to find a stream or something.  But I know a lot of people that come out here from NY, Chicago, etc. are amazed at the cows on the road and things of that nature.  Here’s an older post from his tour a couple months ago:

The long drives are beautiful, there’s people from where I’m from (Chicago/Maywood) that would never believe what I’m seeing. The view of the mountains, trees, deer in the middle of the road, buffalos, horses on the side of the road, driving through National Parks, driving through tunnels in the mountains, being 9600 ft in the air driving through the mountains and clouds.

If course if I went to a big city, I would be walking around staring up at the buildings all day while everyone there would be yelling at me to look where I’m going (or rob me blind).  Heck, I don’t even remember seeing a black guy in real life until I was 10 or so.

Amazing how much you’ve never seen or done in your life.

On a related note, the Bucks matched Charlie Bell’s offer from the Heat which means Dee won’t be signing with them.