Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team will be shipping Gordan Giricek and a future first-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Kyle Korver.
“We made a trade which we feel improves our team this year,” O’Connor said.
The sharp-shooting Korver provides immediate firepower off the bench for the struggling Jazz.
In 26 minutes per game this season, Korver is averaging 10 points, nearly three rebounds and 1.3 assists. The fifth-year veteran holds the 76ers’ franchise record for the most three-pointers (226) made in a single season.
At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, Korver can play either shooting guard or small forward.
While the trade stands to make an immediate impact for the Jazz, the rebuilding 76ers have long-term plans in mind.
“This is a move that prepares us for the future,” 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski said. “(Giricek) is excited to join the team and we get a pick that we can either keep or use as a trading chip.”
The first-round pick will become available to Philadelphia starting in the 2009-10 season. The selection will receive varying levels of protection until 2014 when the Sixers would take it outright.
Giricek, who is in the final year of a four-year, $16 million contract, will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
“We wanted to be major players in the free agent market next summer,” Stefanski said, adding that the team intends to extend 76ers star Andre Iguodala’s contract. With Giricek’s salary eligible to be off the books next summer, Philadelphia will potentially have about $10 million in cap space to work with.
Giricek is coming off a frustrating week in which he was sent home after a verbal spat with Jazz coach Jerry Sloan in Charlotte during the team’s pre-Christmas road trip.
The Croatian guard was reinstated after meeting with team officials on Thursday morning, saying that the situation had been resolved and both sides planned to move forward.
Stefanski said the recent altercation with Sloan had no bearing on the team’s decision to acquire Giricek.
“I’m not at all concerned about that,” Stefanski said. “Our teams had been talking for two weeks. Giricek is a wild card for us, but the move also allows room to grow for guys like Willie Green and Louis Williams.”
Stefanski added that the decision to trade Korver was a difficult one for the organization.
“As terrific a basketball player as Kyle is, he’s an even better person,” Stefanski said. “There’s no question he’s a terrific shooter. He hates to lose. He’s a great asset for any team.”
Kyle Korver will take his career 40.9 percent 3-point average to Salt Lake City as the newest member of the Utah Jazz
Gordan Giricek was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, along with a protected first-round draft pick today. Giricek spent over four years in a Jazz uniform