Was Kevin O'Connor a Good GM? Part 9

So I guess I've been taking too long on my examination of Kevin O'Connor's career because before I could finish, he was "promoted" (retired/fired) and the Jazz signed a new GM. For the record, I am excited to have Dennis Lindsey. He doesn't look like he should be retired/fired, and I like that he's been working with the Spurs for the past five years. In case you didn't notice, the Spurs have won a few games. Anyway, my question now changes from "Is Kevin O'Connor a good GM?" to "Was Kevin O'Connor a good GM?" I'll shift from wondering if we should ask for new blood to wondering how we should remember his career. Nine playoff appearances in 13 years is impressive, but could the Jazz have been better? Let's pick up where I left off, the second season during my mission.

Season 9: 2007-08

The Jazz had the 25th pick in the 2007 draft, which O'Connor used on shooter Morris Almond. At the time, this was a rather logical choice, as Almond had averaged 26 points per game in his senior season at Rice. However, he just didn't make it in the NBA. He only played nine games his rookie year and 25 games the next season. He did have something of a "comeback" last year, appearing in four games for the Wizards, but I don't think he'll ever be a significant contributor on an NBA roster. So he ultimately ended up being another first-round bust for O'Connor. The 26th pick of the draft was high-scoring combo guard Aaron Brooks and the 27th was shooting guard Arron Afflalo, a good defender who isn't a terrible shooter, either. If the Jazz wanted to go big, they could have chosen Tiago Splitter, Carl Landry or Glen Davis. Alas!

The second round was a little weird. Again, I wasn't here, but from what I can gather, Utah and Philadelphia switched 2nd-round picks because of the weird Alan Henderson trade made the previous season. So if I'm understanding this correctly, the 76ers picked Kyrylo Fesenko at No. 38 for the Jazz, who in turn picked Herbert Hill at No. 55 for the 76ers. Hill has yet to play in an NBA game, so there was no loss there. Fesenko meanwhile ... He played nine games his rookie year and spent the next four seasons with the Jazz being very frustrating. We kept hoping the 7-1, 300-pounder would eventually figure out how to be somewhat decent, but he still hasn't. Last year, he played three games with the Indiana Pacers. So I guess he was our consolation prize for waiving Alan Henderson for Philadelphia. It's a shame, though, that we didn't choose Marc Gasol as our prize, since he's now an All-Star. Alas!

Shortly after the draft, Derek Fisher was released from his contract so he could get better medical treatment for his daughter, which somehow required him to play for the Lakers. I guess watching her dad in a yellow and purple jersey was what her eye needed. Just kidding! I can't be mean, I wasn't around to experience and understand everything. Besides, I already talked about this enough in my last post. The important part to note is that the Jazz lost an important veteran who played a major role in returning the team to contending glory. Sadly, O'Connor really couldn't replace him.

To fill the roster, he signed two guards: journeyman Jason Hart and Utah Valley star Ronnie Price. Hart played 57 games with the Jazz and did basically nothing. He ended his career with nine different teams in 10 years. Price played 61 games his first year in Utah and started in three of them. He stayed with the Jazz for four years and was definitely athletic and exciting, but always seemed to be hurt and just not ready to run our offense. He played with the Suns last year, but missed half the season and I'm really doubtful how much longer his career will continue.

The only other move O'Connor made was a rare mid-season trade, which was actually not too bad. He finally realized that Gordan Giricek just wasn't working with the Jazz, so he sent him and a 1st-round pick to Philadelphia for sharpshooter Kyle Korver. At that point, all I knew of Korver was that he once made more 3-pointers than 2-pointers in a season, which is either really impressive or really sad. But I actually kind of liked having him around. He was a nice guy, did a lot of charity work, and occasionally would have a big game for us. Sadly, those big games were too few and far between, and he was always hurt during his two-and-a-half seasons in Utah. But he did average 9.8 ppg in his first 50 Jazz games, and was a vast improvement over Giricek. Nice move by O'Connor.

The Jazz benefited from another healthy, productive Carlos Boozer season that featured 21.1 ppg and 10.4 rpg through 81 games. Again, not quite Karl Malone, but still one of the best power forwards in the league. Deron Williams was right behind him with 18.8 ppg and 10.5 apg. Memo Okur added 14.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg, while Ronnie Brewer responded well to his new starting role with 12 ppg and a team-high 1.7 spg. Andrei Kirilenko somewhat recovered, ever so slightly, with 11 ppg. He never did return to his All-Star level, but at least he stopped crying so much in the locker room.

Korver became the sixth man for Utah, which was convenient, as Matt Harpring's body began to deteriorate. He did still put up 8.2 ppg, but the end of his career was coming much faster than the end of his growing contract. Luckily, Paul Millsap also helped pick up the slack with 8.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg. And besides, we didn't need to worry about Harpring with the emergence of C.J. Miles who played 60 games, started 13, and averaged exactly 5 points per game. Give him a max contract! Did I mention how young he was? Anyway, the stat-less Jarron Collins rounded out the roster, playing 70 games with nine starts and lots of drawn charges and solid picks.

Surprisingly, the Jazz improved to 54-28, despite losing Derek Fisher. However, they couldn't improve in the playoffs, losing to Fisher and the Lakers in six games in the second round. But, the Jazz did win their second-straight Northwest Division title and the future was looking really bright. I was eager to return from my mission to enjoy a new Jazz dynasty.