From Deseret News archives:
So long, Sasha . . . Bobcats pick Jazzman, reportedly for Cleveland, in expansion draft
He was right.
The Bobcats made 2003 Jazz first-round draft choice Sasha Pavlovic one of their 19 picks Tuesday — with the intention of trading the 20-year-old swingman from Serbia-Montenegro to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a future first-round draft choice.
"From an organizational standpoint, obviously," said O'Connor, the Jazz's senior vice president for basketball operations, "we were disappointed."
But, even in hindsight, the franchise is not sorry about a decision that seemed to catch many around the NBA off-guard.
"As far as remorse goes . . . we couldn't protect all of our players," O'Connor said. "We didn't want to put Sasha out there, (but) we had to put somebody out there."
The Jazz did have multiple options for the expansion draft, but instead of exposing a restricted free agent — many thought they might not protect big man Jarron Collins, or maybe combo guard Mo Williams — they made Pavlovic and center Curtis Borchardt, both of whom are under contract, available to the Bobcats.
"We did," O'Connor said, "what was best for the organization."
Factored in, the Jazz's basketball boss added, is the fact Utah has both under-contract Raja Bell and restricted free-agent Gordan Giricek to play shooting guard.
One reason Cleveland decided to acquire Pavlovic was because it learned it would lose small forward Jason Kapono, whom Charlotte also selected. Another: input from Kenny Natt, the former Jazz assistant who recently joined the Cavs' coaching staff.
"I'm sure that helped, because of familiarity with him," O'Connor said.
O'Connor suggested the Jazz did make offers to Charlotte in an effort to entice the Bobcats to not take Pavlovic, a promising rookie who averaged 4.8 points while playing 79 games in his first NBA season.
But Charlotte, obviously, was keener on the offer it received from Cleveland, which according to ESPN.com is a "lottery-protected first-round pick . . . believed to be the one the Toronto Raptors owe the Cavaliers as part of the Lamond Murray deal two years ago."
Asked if the Jazz were willing to go so far as to offer a first-round pick to be able to keep Pavlovic, who was selected No. 19 overall last year, O'Connor declined comment on that and all details regarding his talks with Charlotte.
The Jazz have three first-round picks in Thursday night's NBA Draft, Nos. 14, 16 and 21.
O'Connor said it's possible Utah could still make a deal with Charlotte in the days to come, but "I'm thinking anything we would do with them would be after (Thursday's) draft."
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com
