After the Bulls won their sixth championship in 1998, Michael Jordan retired for the second time, Phil Jackson retired for the first time and Scottie Pippen asked to be traded to the Houston Rockets. The Bulls spent the next six years out of the playoffs and near the bottom of the league. During that period, they had the No. 1 pick, the No. 2 pick, the No. 3, the No. 4 twice and the No. 7 pick twice. They finally returned to the playoffs in 2004, but they really didn't become a competitor again until 2008 when they drafted Derrick Rose (another No. 1 pick).
In 2007, the Jazz not only returned to the playoffs, but they began to look like championship contenders again. After Stockton and Malone left, they only had three seasons out of the playoffs. Of course, Jerry Sloan was still around, but that doesn't change the fact that the Jazz didn't take as long as Chicago to rebuild, nor did they bottom out as bad. As tough as the 26-win season was, it was nothing compared to the five sub-26-win seasons the Bulls fans had to suffer through, including an abysmal 15-67 year in 2000-01.
Now how much credit does Kevin O'Connor deserve for this? I'm not quite sure, but I'd wager he deserves a fairly big chunk. While I definitely believe the Jazz could have started rebuilding before the Stockton-Malone era officially ended, I do think it was impressive how O'Connor was able to quickly rebound from the Lopez-Borchardt debacle and send the Jazz into what was a promising Williams-Boozer era. However, this is where my review becomes tricky because I left for the MTC shortly after the 2006 draft, so I don't have any personal memories to rely on for the next couple of seasons. Hopefully my research and second-hand anecdotes will suffice.
Season 8: 2006-07
Before the draft, O'Connor traded Kris Humphries and Robert Whaley to Toronto for former BYU star Rafael Araujo. Araujo had the grave misfortune of being drafted about ten (or twenty) spots higher than he should have been and was caught in the middle of a feud between the Raptors head coach and GM. So although his numbers during his first two years were horrendous, I was excited to have a former Cougar on the team, and I hoped he'd have something of a revival in Utah. Now, I didn't see any of these games, but apparently Araujo was pretty awful. I guess beating up on Mountain West opponents is not an adequate preparation for the NBA, and poor Haffa just couldn't figure out his place in pros, even after a couple of seasons. He only played 28 games with the Jazz, which turned out to be his last in the NBA.
So was Humphries and Whaley worth the price for 28 games of a washed-up BYU star? Well, getting rid of Whaley was a must. He had a bad habit of getting arrested and seemed like a bad influence on his teammates. (His one incident with Deron Williams could have easily turned out a lot worse than it did.) Humphries, though, is a little more complicated. It was pretty apparent that he wasn't contributing much and wasn't really needed with Boozer around. I still kind of felt like the Jazz gave up fairly quickly on him. I mean, how come he only got two years while C.J. Miles got seven? But then again, Kris has only recently begun to contribute for an NBA team. After doing very little for the Raptors and even less for the Mavericks, he finally found a home with the Nets, where he's been averaging a double-double for the past two seasons. But I kind of feel like those numbers are somewhat inflated because of New Jersey's terrible roster. I mean, in every NBA game there is a certain amount of rebounds naturally available and someone has to get them, regardless of skill level. Ultimately, I say if the cost for getting rid of Whaley was skipping out on a few disappointing and Kardashian-filled years with Humphries, then I guess I'd have to say it was a good trade. Despite Araujo's performance (or lack thereof).
With the 14th pick of the 2006 draft, O'Connor chose the athletic defender Ronnie Brewer, who really was the best player available, with the possible exception of Rajon Rondo, who fell to No. 21. But I don't blame the Jazz for passing up on Rondo. They already had D-Will and Brewer really did fill a legitimate need. He didn't do much his rookie year (only appearing in 56 games) but he later had a couple of really good seasons with the Jazz until he was inexplicably traded, much to my (and D-Will's) anger. True, Brewer was a pretty pathetic shooter, and a liability at the foul line, but I always thought he made up for it with his defense and ability to finish under the basket. He always shot 50 percent from the field because he got a ton of dunks. But he was apparently too expensive to keep around, and after helping the Bulls finish with the best regular season record the past two years, he's now one of the top available free agents this summer, being courted by the Lakers, Knicks and Timberwolves (just to name three teams).
The Jazz's own 2nd round pick was No. 47, but they also had the 46th pick, which was a leftover from the John Amaechi trade with Houston. With their first 2nd-round pick, the Jazz selected Dee Brown, Deron Williams' former Illinois teammate. In his junior year, Brown helped lead the Fighting Illini to a 37-2 record, but then he broke his foot during the pre-draft workouts and was never really the same. He stayed for his senior year then showed exactly why he fell to the 2nd round. He only played in 49 games his rookie year, didn't make the team the next year, played overseas before appearing in just a handful of games for the Wizards. It is a shame he didn't work out with the Jazz, but most 2nd-rounders don't contribute much ... except for the guy who got picked right after him.
The 47th pick of the 2006 draft was probably O'Connor's best ever — an undersized power forward named Paul Millsap. While it was rather redundant to back up the short Boozer with another short guy, Millsap quickly showed why he was the leading rebounder in college. He played in all 82 games his rookie year, only started once, and still averaged 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. But more importantly, he demonstrated an incredible work effort, probably more than any Jazz player since Matt Harpring. Today, that effort has made him Utah's best player. Yes, he is a little short for his position, but he is strong, athletic, a good defender, rebounder and has turned into one of the best scorers for the Jazz. More often than not, he's the one taking the big shots in close games, even the occasional 3-pointer. Basically he was the biggest steal of 2006.
So I was pretty happy with Utah's draft picks when I went into the MTC. I was only there for a week when I heard they traded Keith McLeod, Devin Brown and Andre Owens for Derek Fisher. I was kind of sad to lose McLeod and Brown, especially, but then I realized that Fisher had won three championships with the Lakers and could provide the veteran experience the Jazz sorely needed. Turns out, that was exactly what he did. He played all 82 games, started 61, and averaged 10.1 ppg and provided one of the most memorable playoff moments of all time (more on that later). Seeing as neither McLeod or Brown had any significant moments after leaving Utah, I'd have to say this was one of O'Connor's best trades ever, even if we only got one year of Fisher. Now, I was in Europe when all this happened, so I can't really judge Fisher's departure, but it was rather painful to see him win two more titles with the Lakers while the Williams-Boozer era began to collapse in Utah. I know you're not supposed to be mad at someone for making decisions they feel are best for their family, but I don't know why he couldn't receive adequate medical treatment for his daughter in Salt Lake. Isn't the Huntsman Cancer Institute one of the best in the world? Or is that just Ute propaganda? Anyway, like I said, I wasn't there, so I can't judge.
One good sign that this was a stable Jazz team is that O'Connor had very few holes to fill before training camp. The only last-minute addition was another Illinois guy, Roger Powell. I think O'Connor just brought him in because it sounded fun to have three former college teammates together. But Powell really wasn't suited for the NBA. He only played in three games with the Jazz before they waived him and he never sniffed the NBA again. Later, O'Connor replaced him with Louis Amundson, who only played one game for Utah. He is still in the NBA, but he's never really been a significant player anywhere, so it's not like the Jazz let a good opportunity pass them by.
The only other transaction O'Connor made in the 2006-07 season was a rather confusing trade deadline deal with the 76ers. The Jazz traded the rights to swap 2nd-round draft picks for Alan Henderson, who was immediately waived by Utah. This seemed to me like O'Connor was doing a favor for his former team. "Oh, you need to clear some cap space? Just send this guy over here and we'll cut him for you." I'm rather perplexed by this. But, it's not like the Jazz really gave up anything for this, nor was the roster hurting any at the time.
Carlos Boozer finally started living up to his potential this season, playing 74 games and leading the Jazz with 20.9 ppg and 11.7 rpg. Memo Okur was right behind him with 17.6 ppg and 7.2 rpg. Deron Williams, having paid his dues as a rookie, now ran the Jazz offense, averaging 16.2 ppg and 9.3 apg. And Matt Harpring became the team's sixth man, putting up 11.6 ppg off the bench. But the starting small forward somehow disappeared.
I really need someone to explain to me what happened to Andrei Kirilenko. Before I left, he was averaging about 16 points per game and was among the league leaders in blocks and steals. But in this season, his productivity was basically cut in half. He only averaged 8.3 ppg this season, which is inexcusable for someone making $12 million a year. Did the emergence of Boozer and Williams cost him his confidence? I even heard stories that he broke down in tears after a loss in the playoffs and his wife complained that he needed a translator with him during the games. What on Earth happened to him?
Speaking of lost confidence, I saw Gordan Giricek lose his confidence when Raja Bell took his starting job a couple of seasons ago. But he still managed to put up a helpful 7.8 ppg off the bench for this Jazz team. I don't judge him as harshly because he only made $4 million that year, not a team-high $12 million like a certain other European. Rounding out the Jazz roster was C.J. Miles, who played in only 37 games under the I'm-just-19 excuse card, and the stat-less Jarron Collins, who played all 82 games and took a bunch of charges and set a bunch of screens.
For the first time since 2000, the Jazz won their division with a 51-31 record. And despite an emotionally distraught Kirilenko, they were able to beat Houston in Game 7 on the road. I really wish I could have been there just to watch Tracy McGrady lose. I love'd how he was never able to take his team past the first round of the playoffs. Then, the best thing possible happened for the Jazz, the league-leading Dallas Mavericks and MVP Dirk Nowitzki got kicked out of the first round by the Warriors. And even though Baron Davis had one amazing dunk over Kirilenko, the Jazz were able to beat them in five games, thanks to Derek Fisher's heroics. My first Mother's Day phone call involved a lengthy explanation from my dad about how no one knew where Fisher was and D-Will got in early foul trouble and Kirilenko had to play point guard for a little bit. Then at the end of the game, Fisher came out of nowhere and made a big defensive stop and a huge 3-pointer to lead the Jazz to an overtime win. Then we all found out he was only gone because he was getting treatment for his daughter who had eye cancer. He was so beloved, it's no wonder Larry H. Miller let him leave after the season ended.
Even though the Jazz got crushed by the eventual-champion Spurs in five games, the fact that they returned to the conference finals for the first time since 1998 showed me the Jazz were back. Williams was the new Stockton, Boozer the new Malone, and Fisher would have been the new Hornacek had he stayed.
By the time I got home from my mission, most fans were upset with Fisher, feeling he could have stayed in Utah and only left because he wanted to play with Kobe. They booed Fish profusely when the Jazz played the Lakers in the playoffs and some fans even wore shirts that said, "Fisher lied," which led to some harsh criticism from the national media. "How can boo someone who was only doing what was best for his family?" But I think those media guys have forgotten what it's like to be a fan and they forgot that while in Utah, Fisher's preferred doctor was in New York. So going to the Lakers, who won two more titles and kicked the Jazz out of the playoffs three years in a row, did not sit well with most fans. Again, I wasn't there, so I can't judge. But I was there in 2011 when Fisher, the president of the player's association, was a major player in the awful and unnecessary lockout that didn't seem to really solve any problems facing the NBA. I was also there in 2012 when the Lakers traded Fisher to the Rockets, but he never showed up in Houston, forcing them to buy out his contract so he could sign with the contending Oklahoma City Thunder. That seemed like a pretty jerky move to me.
Come back next time to see how O'Connor filled the veteran hole left by Fisher for the suddenly competitive Jazz.
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