Amaechi a Rocket; will Rice show up?

John Amaechi and his embarrassingly large salary for sitting at the end of Utah's bench are gone, and the Jazz actually got something in return — conditional draft picks, qualification for the NBA-minimum team salary level and less of a payroll/salary cap hit for next season.

Oh, the Jazz get veteran shooter Glen Rice from Houston, too.

But Utah and the 6-foot-8 Rice (18.6 career scoring average) have yet to decide if he will report. Jazz VP of basketball operations, Kevin O'Connor, said that won't be hammered out until phone talks are made over the 24 to 48 hours following Tuesday's trade.

"I'm still collecting my thoughts," Rice told the Houston Chronicle when reached after the trade was made public.

Speculation is that Rice won't ever play for the Jazz.

"That's a difficult answer right now," said O'Connor. "We're going to sit down and try to do what's best for our organization. And we're also going to take into consideration, Glen's 36, and he's a veteran. We're going to see what kind of physical condition he's in because he's been hurt (a foot injury held him to only 62 games played last season). Give us 24-48 hours, and I'll be able to give you a better decision on that."

In the trade, Utah shipped the 6-10 Amaechi and a second-round draft pick that it received from Sacramento in the Keon Clark deal this summer to Houston for Rice and a couple of "protected" first-round draft picks, one which could take up to four years to reach fruition and one which could turn into two second-round picks, depending upon where Houston finishes in the draft order next spring and possibly later than that.

The trade made it possible for Houston to clear enough salary-cap room to sign Sacramento free-agent shooting guard Jimmy Jackson, which it did.

Utah also gains an undisclosed amount of cash as part of "additional considerations" in the deal.

Houston plans to have Amaechi in training camp competing for a roster spot. "The move is a fresh start for me," Amaechi told the Chronicle. "I didn't think anything was ever going to happen (in Utah), one way or another. The only resolution was to move on." He did not say anything critical of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan despite numerous disparaging remarks he'd made about Sloan over the summer.

Utah would have considered buying out Amaechi's two contract years, but not at face value ($2,610,000 this year with a player option worth $2,827,500 for next season). It would have been a negotiated buyout, O'Connor said.

Utah may also be willing to let Rice walk. "We would consider it. He can shoot the ball. There are some things about it that are positive, but we 're going to do what's best for the organization, not just short-term but long-term," O'Connor said.