Ronnie Brewer's Departure

I usually withhold commentary on the Jazz because I have to be fully invested to have an opinion on them, and the Jazz are not something you want to be invested in.

Ronnie Brewer's trading though, is worth commentary. Prior to his departure, Utah had finally found a rhythm, winning 15 of its last 17 games. So what do they do to reward the team? They trade away the starting shooting guard.

I'm not going to bloat Brewer's worth. He was never a vital cog for the Jazz and probably never would have been. He averaged around 9.5 points, three assists and three boards -- not exactly upper echelon -- and struggled defending the Western Conference's upper-echelon shooting guards over the past couple years.

That being said, you don't mess with a thing when you're winning. I don't care if you do save 3.5 million in salary money and avoid the luxury tax. A Nascar crew chief doesn't get rid of an essential piece of a car engine to cut cost when his driver has won three of the last four races....sorry, I don't know a damn thing about nascar but thought I'd give it a go anyways.

Seriously though, GM Kevin O'Connor is fucking up the Jazz' world. You may be saving a couple bucks now, but the short-term chemistry and playoff run hopes are going to take a sizeable hit because of it (not to mention you're getting virtually no value back for at least the next four years because the Grizzlies are fucking terrible and will never finish out of the bottom 14). I say this even after Brewer tore his hamstring in his first game with the Grizz and will be out three weeks.

Wesley Matthews can shoot, but he's looking at a rough learning curve in the coming weeks and I have a feeling the Jazz' record is going to suffer because of it.

Here are a few links on that:
D-Will Isn't Happy

Sad To Say Goodbye

Jazz Feel For Brewer