Jazz unanimous about L.A. trade

WASHINGTON — If the Jazz take out some frustration in Memphis tonight, it may be because they think the Grizzlies helped one of their biggest Western Conference rivals get a good bit better.

Memphis on Friday traded franchise icon Pau Gasol, sending the big Spaniard to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

"That makes them legitimate," Williams said of the Lakers.

"What is Memphis trying to do to us? Trade him to the East," he added. "I mean, they're in the Western Conference last time I checked. Right?"

Other Jazz players agreed that the deal should greatly aid L.A.

"The Lakers definitely got better," Carlos Boozer said.

"Stronger, in my opinion," Andrei Kirilenko added. "Lakers don't really need to be different, because they're playing pretty good this year. But he might add some more inside power."

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan thinks so.

"I assume it would (make them better)," he said, "knowing that they have a guy that can play inside and score points for them.

"It looks like that was a good move for them," added Sloan, whose 29-18 Jazz close a back-to-back set tonight in Memphis. "But we can't worry about that. We have to worry about ourselves."

As for his own club, Sloan suggested he doesn't anticipate any major changes before the league's Feb. 21 trade deadline.

"There hasn't been any discussion, at all," he said, suggesting that because the Jazz are not inclined to surpass the NBA team payroll luxury-tax threshold they aren't even in position to make the kind of trade the Lakers did.

"We know the parameters of what we have to work under," the Jazz coach added. "That's just the way it is. I don't have a problem with that. Never have. Larry (Jazz owner Larry H. Miller) always has been great in all that, and we're gonna make decisions on 'what's best for our team' and 'is it feasible for us to do it?' I've never had a problem with that."

Jazz players seemed content with the notion of staying intact.

"I have confidence in our team," Kirilenko said.