Jazz dismiss Arroyo trade rumors

The Jazz denied Wednesday they are talking seriously about trading point guard Carlos Arroyo, the former starter who remains buried deep on coach Jerry Sloan's bench — and who still is quite unhappy with his lack of playing time.

"We've had no substantive conversations with anybody about trading Carlos Arroyo," said Kevin O'Connor, senior vice president of basketball operations for the 13-24 Jazz.

"Have I talked to a lot of people about a lot of things? Yeah," O'Connor added. "And names have come up. Carlos' name's come up. Everybody's name comes up on our roster. When you lose, that happens. And you look to improve yourself."

O'Connor, however, bristled at an Internet report that earlier this week falsely suggested Arroyo had already been traded.

"It's not fair to Carlos," he said. "It's not fair to us."

A report in Wednesday's Detroit Free Press said the Jazz recently spoke with the Detroit Pistons regarding a potential trade involving Arroyo, but that very same report suggested such a swap is unlikely.

According to the Free Press: "A rumor saying that the Pistons are interested in Utah point guard Carlos Arroyo may be true, but the sides would likely be unable to work out a trade. The two sides talked a week to 10 days ago, but Arroyo signed a four-year contract worth a reported $16 million last July, and there aren't a lot of players on the Pistons' roster that the Jazz covet other than starters."

Asked if he had engaged in substantive conversations with the Pistons regarding Arroyo, O'Connor's response was curt: "Nothing."

Nonetheless, Arroyo, now in his third season with the Jazz, is frustrated.

He was the Jazz's starter at the point last season, but sprained an ankle in Utah's final preseason game and missed the start of the 2004-05 regular season.

Arroyo was given his starting job back when he returned, but since then he's lost it to Keith McLeod.

At times recently, Arroyo has even been the Jazz's No. 4 point, playing sparingly behind McLeod, Howard Eisley and Raul Lopez. He did not play at all in Wednesday's win over Phoenix, and logged two minutes in Monday's win over San Antonio.

Arroyo had a brief sideline flare-up with Jazz coach Jerry Sloan earlier this season, but after a few days the two publicly made amends.

Wednesday, though, Arroyo suggested matters remain unresolved.

Reiterating comments he has made, the point guard, according to an English-version transcript of a conference call with reporters in his native Puerto Rico, suggested he and Sloan no longer communicate well.

"Communication is non-existent now," Arroyo said, according to the transcript provided by the NBA and the Jazz. "We don't have the same communication we used to."

Clearly, Arroyo wants to play more.