Too many fingers in trade pie

The NBA moratorium was lifted Tuesday morning, but it took another 11 hours before the Utah Jazz knew for sure that their trade plans that started a couple of weeks ago would finally come to fruition.

They could finally talk publicly about their proposed trade that would bring Greg Ostertag back to Salt Lake City and send unhappy guard Kirk Snyder and the oft-injured Raul Lopez and Curtis Borchardt to other cities.

But due to the new NBA collective bargaining agreement that requires all trades be approved by the league via conference call with all teams involved, the Jazz had to sit around the office all day and much of the evening awaiting NBA approval of the deal that became complicated Monday when three other teams wanted a piece of what had been a three-team deal.

"These additional fingers in the pie are going to muck it up," said Jazz president Dennis Haslam at a noon Tuesday media function at the Delta Center.

It became two trades, one between Sacramento and Memphis that was the first one approved Tuesday, and another five-team swap that became the biggest in NBA history, involving 13 players. The previous record was four teams and 12 players in 2000.

The Jazz portion of the trade was essentially unaffected, though it changed where Snyder (New Orleans) and Borchardt (Boston) wind up.

The original version of the trade would have sent Snyder, Borchardt and Lopez to Memphis, which would send Bonzi Wells to Sacramento for Bobby Jackson and Ostertag. Ostertag would then be traded to Utah.

Then Miami, Boston and New Orleans got involved.

The Sacramento-Memphis part of the deal, Wells for Jackson and Ostertag, was the first trade approved by the NBA Tuesday morning.

Part II: Utah swaps Snyder, Borchardt and Lopez for Ostertag. Memphis trades Jason Williams, James Posey, Ostertag and Andre Emmett in exchange for Eddie Jones and Lopez. New Orleans trades draft rights to Roberto Duenas in exchange for Snyder and Rasual Butler. Miami trades Jones, Butler, Qyntel Woods, two second-round draft picks and draft rights to Albert Miralles in exchange for Williams, Posey, Emmett, Antoine Walker and draft rights to Duanes. Boston trades Walker in exchange for Borchardt, Woods, two second-round draft picks from Miami and draft rights to Miralles.

Got that?

Coach Jerry Sloan does, and he likes reacquiring the admittedly inconsistent Ostertag and filling a commitment the coach made to Snyder last season to trade him if he couldn't make him happy with Utah.