Jazz trade 3 guards for Fisher

He is deemed to be an above-average citizen, a harder-than-most worker and an all-around good guy.

He's also not much for guarding quicker players, he'll be 32 years old when next season begins, he has four guaranteed years remaining on his contract and he'll add roughly $25 million in long-term salary to payroll.

Such is the price for filling a void.

The Jazz, it's believed, have agreed to trade for Golden State guard and longtime Los Angeles Laker Derek Fisher — a deal they see as the best route for acquiring some semblance of a sharpshooter, and one that means they're no longer shopping for a big name in the NBA's summer free-agency market.

In exchange, Utah — barring an unforeseen snag — will send guards Keith McLeod, Devin Brown and Andre Owens to Golden State.

Fisher confirmed the trade, telling the Contra Costa (Calif.) Times the deal was "pretty much done."

The father of newborn twins sounded less than thrilled, however.

According to the Times, "Fisher said he wants to stay a Warrior, and that he and his family were just starting to feel at home in the (San Francisco) Bay Area. But he noted he is prepared to go to Utah if the deal goes through."

"I will try to do my job and do the best I can," he told the California newspaper, "whether I'm still with the Warriors or somewhere else."

Fisher, a University of Arkansas-Little Rock product, played his first eight NBA seasons in L.A. and the past two for Golden State.

At 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, he's described as a shooting guard in a point guard's body — with a point's mentality.

In Utah, that means Fisher — said to be hungry for minutes — can back up starter Deron Williams at the point and/or play off-guard, though it's an awfully small, defense-challenged backcourt if he and Williams play together.

Neither the Jazz nor the Warriors commented, as the trade cannot be made official until next Wednesday at the earliest.

That's because Owens is a restricted free agent, and the Jazz need his contract to make the swap conform to NBA salary-matching rules. League free-agency rules also prevent Owens — who probably wouldn't have been re-signed, but now will make at least $664,209 — from completing paperwork before Wednesday.