From Deseret News archives:

Utah Jazz notes: Team won't match offer from Wizards to Brown

Published: Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:02 a.m. MDT
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The Utah Jazz currently have three point guards under contract for the 2008-09 season. In the unlikely scenario they decide to carry a fourth court general on their roster, it will not be Dee Brown.

The Jazz, according to a team source, will not match the Washington Wizards' offer sheet Brown signed earlier this week. Utah has point guards Deron Williams, Ronnie Price and Jason Hart on the roster for next season.

The former Jazz point guard signed a partially guaranteed, two-year deal for an undisclosed amount with the Wizards on Wednesday, but because Brown was Utah's restricted free agent — the team retained his NBA rights while he played in Turkey last season — the Jazz had a seven-day window to decide whether to snatch him up. Utah officially has until next Wednesday to decide, per the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement, but that will not happen.

In Brown, the Wizards will get a point guard who lacks height at 6-0 but not speed. Brown averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 assists in limited action with the Jazz after being picked up with the 46th pick of the 2006 draft. Last year in Turkey, he scored 12.3 points a game for Galatasaray Cafe Crown.

Brown should play for Washington's entry in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

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"Dee is a player who can bring quickness and energy to our team," Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said when the team announced he'd signed an offer sheet. "We like that he gives us depth and a different look at the point guard position."

Washington also plans on signing guard Gilbert Arenas to an extension — reportedly worth $111 million over six years — while point guard Antonio Daniels is also on the roster.

UTAH RUMORS: A Charlotte Bobcats official dispelled one rumor but confirmed another one involving a couple of their NBA players and Salt Lake City.

Bobcats' spokesman B.J. Evans told The Charlotte Observer that Sean May did not recently visit Utah's capital but that Adam Morrison indeed made a trip to the Beehive State.

One Internet rumor is claiming that the Bobcats and Jazz are exploring a trade that would send May and Gerald Wallace to Utah in exchange for Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer. But Evans said it was untrue that May visited Salt Lake City for a medical examination and/or workout with the Jazz.

On the other hand, Evans confirmed that Morrison did come to the Jazz's hometown. However, it was to get his insulin pump tweaked by a diabetes specialist and not for hoops reasons.

Writer Rick Bonnell, whose blog this report appeared in, said the trade would work financially but didn't think it would necessarily make sense.

"But ask yourself a skeptical question: Why would the Jazz trade an All-Star big man, a consistent 20-point/10-point rebound guy, for a smaller player (Wallace) and a comparably-sized player coming off a major injury (May)?" Bonnell wrote. "The rule of thumb in the NBA is that quantity and bigger (with the exception of point guard) trumps smaller. So I'm sure the Bobcats would jump at that, if available, but I strongly doubt it would make any sense for the Jazz."


E-mail: jody@desnews.com

Recent comments

The Jazz had that spark to get over the hump. It went by the name...

Re: Ing | July 14, 2008 at 8:12 p.m.

WHY ARE YOU YELLING?

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Ing | July 14, 2008 at 6:57 p.m.

IS GONE. IF THEY CAN'T GET A DEAL TOGETHER BY NOW THEY WON'T. HE'S...

DERON WILLIAMS... | July 14, 2008 at 2:41 p.m.

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