Jazz & Warriors tonight at 8:30 PM (MST).

The Jazz will be without Ronnie Brewer (obviously) and Mehmet Okur (back in SLC because his wife gave birth). They also may have a pissed off star player. He did say...

“I think if we’d make a trade it would be something a little different than that,” Williams said at the pregame shootaround. “You look at all the teams that are getting better around the West and we essentially get worse, if you ask me.”

... which is something Ball Don't Lie would disagree with (for what it's worth)

Not really. With each passing day, the Spurs are getting worse. The Nuggets are staying the same. The Lakers are brilliant, but their best player has all sorts of things wrong with his body. There are no guarantees that Caron Butler will turn his crummy season around in Dallas. There will be a drop in production as Brewer's minutes turn into Matthews' and Miles' minutes, but it's not significant, and a huge part of me thinks that the Jazz, more than any other team in the West, can down the Lakers. They have to be aware of that.

Either way, it is what it is. Brewer's gone. Rotoworld is reporting that both Corey Maggette & Monta Ellis will start today for the Warriors. Weird, because the Y! Sports preview says that Don Nelson thought Ellis would miss another week. The Jazz will be starting Wes Matthews & Paul Millsap for their 2 absentee starters.

Whatever. Just know that the Warriors like to run, shoot & score. Especially treys. And they don't play defense.

(Unrelated to all this... Brian Cardinal was just released by the Knicks. Say hi to your newest Jazzman?)

Jazz/Warriors. Later tonight in California.

My thoughts have been made known on the blog (I'm just asking for some front office consistency), but what about the other Jazz bloggers out there?

SLC Dunk

So what's my final opinion of the trade?  In some ways it makes sense but in others it stinks.  I can see where we need to get players like Matthews some more minutes, but when is having depth a bad thing?  We've been pretty fortunate with injuries in the regular season.  What if something happens again to one of the three left?  That leaves us pretty thin.  The same thing happened right after we had to get rid of Maynor.

The Cowhide Globe

I would have traded Korver instead (more savings)... but... the ladies of SLC would riot and have nothing of it. The asset we get in exchange... A protected 1st round pick in 2011. Nothing exciting.

Living and Dying by the Jazz

Ronnie’s matured a great deal over the course of his career and even this season (which can’t be said for everyone), is a team player (which can’t be said for everyone), and was willing to give up shots to make the extra pass or fight for the board even though he was in a contract year (which can’t be said for everyone). I’m sad to see him go.

Purple & Blues

At the end of the day, I trust that Jerry Sloan will make the decision that best suits his system. And as long as that is the case, I am not going to be too worried about the Jazz.

Jazz Hype

Based off of a lot of the instant reaction I’ve seen across the twitterverse, there doesn’t seem to be too many fans of this move. After being told the Jazz were only going to make a move if they felt it made the team better, I can see why there are some fans who feel mislead, but while I have always liked Brewer, I can’t say that I feel this move is going to really hurt the Jazz in the long run.

Jazzbots

This trade was apparently made to relieve the “logjam” at the swing positions. It will allow more playtime for Kyle, CJ, and Wesley. But do we want CJ Miles to have more playing time? Do we want Kyle guarding tall shooting guards in crunch time? Do we trust Wesley enough to give him 30 minutes a night?  “Maybe” is the answer to all those questions. We’ll see. If it works out, awesome. But I will still really miss having Ronnie Brewer on the Jazz.

Siler & Luhm have a ton of stuff up...

You have your thoughts and opinions... Let's hear them. Good move, bad move or eh move?

So the trade deadline has come and gone. And with that, players have moved and the Western Conference has almost certainly been impacted. But our focus, obviously, is on the impacts on the Jazz. (I've already mentioned the Blazers highway robbery and the Mavs blockbuster before.)

Jazz/Grizzlies

This one obviously has the greatest impact... given that the Jazz were involved in the deal. The Jazz lost a starter, cut some salary, picked up a "future asset" and eliminated some of the minutes-competition at the wing spots. BBJ goes over pretty much everything and moni nails it on the head. Honestly, while I will miss Brewer, his steals, the alley-oops and the highlight real plays, what really hurts is that it seems to be a move backwards... CJ is probably going to be the one getting the minutes (if Matthews was the guy, wouldn't he have been getting the minutes before?), and KOC's draft record in the 1st round is not to be trusted. All we can do is sit & watch, I guess. And hope the protection isn't completely pathetic.

Update: According to moni, the protection is as follows

• 2011: 1-14
• 2012: 1-12
• 2013: 1-10
• 2014: 1-9
• 2015: 1-9 (if pick not given by then, cash compensation)

The Grizz, meanwhile, add another solid youngster to their core. He won't be an All-Star or anything, but will be a nice complement to the Mayo/Gay duo right now (and maybe replace Gay after the season?). 3 Shades of Blue likes the deal, and Straight Outta Vancouver feels the same way. And they have a good player on their bench now. Better now? Probably.

Bobcats/Spurs & Bobcats/Bulls

The Spurs traded Theo Ratliff to the Bobcats for a 2016 2nd rounder. Who the hell even remembered that Theo Ratliff was still in the league? Well, the Bobcats add Ratliff anyways. I don't think this impacts the Spurs (and therefore the Jazz) at all. Unless that 2016 2nd rounder turns into the next Paul Millsap, which is likely given how well the Spurs draft.

The Bobcats also swiped in to steal Tyrus Thomas for a package centered around Acie Law, Flip Murray & a 1st rounder. Big for the Jazz, because that means he doesn't end up with Portland, Denver or San Antonio. Huge fall for Thomas though... this summer, he was thought to be at the center of Carlos Boozer-to-Chicago rumors. Obviously, the Bobcats don't really impact the Jazz at all, unless they win and keep the Knicks out of the playoffs or something.

Minnesota/Knicks

The Timberwolves traded Brian Cardinal for Darko Milicic. The whole world yawned. No impact.

Knicks/Houston/Sacramento & Knicks/Celtics & Kings/Wizards

The blockbuster of the weekend, and then some. There was the Nate Robinson/Marcus Landry for Eddie House/JR Giddens/Bill Walker deal that really doesn't seem to help either team. Well, Phil Jackson (yeah, the Lakers coach) thinks Boston was being stupid. But whatever. No one likes him anyways*. Do the Knicks really need Eddie House?  Does this make them any better? I doubt it. A lateral move, according to Posting and Toasting.

The bigger deal is the 3-team blockbuster. The Knicks lose overpaid guys (Jared Jeffries, Larry Hughes) to add another overpaid guy (T-Mac), plus a PG of sorts (Sergio Rodriguez). Sergio could replace Chris Duhon in the starting line-up, and T-Mac will play as well. Will the Knicks be better? Maybe. By a lot? Doubt it.

Sacramento gave up Kevin Martin (so much for trying the Evans/Martin combo for the rest of the season) to land Larry Hughes (well, his expiring contract to be more exact), Joey Dorsey (undersized big-man... role already filled by Jon Brockman) and Carl Landry (don't they already have their young bigs in Hawes & Thompson?). They've got a stable of young big men now... it'll be interesting to see how they develop. Throw in Evans and Francisco Garcia (finally healthy?), Donte Greene & Dominic McGuire (acquired from Washington right before the deadline), and the team looks young with plenty of development ahead of them. They might not see improvement immediately, but the future looks bright.

The Rockets, somehow, managed to dump T-Mac & his contract. In the process, they picked up Kevin Martin, Jared Jeffries, Hilton Armstrong, Jordan Hill AND 1st-round draft picks. (Why can't the Jazz pull off trades like that?). Martin/Ariza/Battier give them a deadly wing trio from downtown, something that always seems to kill the Jazz. Jeffries/Battier gives them a couple of solid defenders on the wings. They add a top-10 pick from this year (Jordan Hill... who will improve), all but making up for the loss of Carl Landry... which isn't even really big given the presence of Luis Scola & Chuck Hayes. The fans will miss Carl Landry though. Yes, the Rockets got better.

Final Impacts

Obviously, in the end you have to play the games. Injuries happen. Teams go into slumps or go on runs. Things unpredicted will happen. But for now, it seems like...

• The Lakers are better than the Jazz. We know this.
• The Nuggets are better than the Jazz, it seems.
• The Mavs improved with their trade.
• The Rockets improved with their trade.
• The Blazers improved with their trade.
• The Grizzlies improved with their trade.
• The Spurs were unaffected.
• The Jazz were unaffected/slightly changed (depending on who plays).

I don't see how the Jazz hope to win like this. You can't just keep staying put when you know you're not good enough. The Jazz are obviously playing for the now (they didn't trade Boozer despite getting offers), but they're also trading a starter for a 'future asset'. We'll see how it all goes, I guess...

It was rumored a while back, and now it has happened.

In a deal completed five minutes before the NBA’s 1 p.m. MDT trade deadline, the Jazz sent Ronnie Brewer to Memphis for a protected future first-round draft pick, general manager Kevin O’Connor said.

Well, there goes the log-jam.

And our starting 2-guard.

(Oh well... at least the salary cap burden is gone now. That's a plus. Right?)

Another trade that doesn't directly impact the Jazz (because the Jazz aren't involved), but this time it features a Northwest Division team. The Blazers just got better...

The trade proposal, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, sends Camby to Portland in exchange for forward Travis Outlaw, guard Steve Blake and $3 million.

The Blazers are 3 games back of the Jazz right now, and that's with all their injuries. Now they have a big (seriously... Juwan Howard hasn't been the answer in years) to throw in alongside Aldridge, Roy & co. And he isn't just "a big" like Kosta Koufos or someone... he plays defense. A lot of it. When healthy. (That's key here.)

Meanwhile, the Clippers players don't seem to happy with this move. Nor does Camby. And Jazz fans shouldn't be to happy right now either...

Not Jazz related (unless you were hoping the Jazz would trade for Caron Butler or Brendan Haywood or Josh Howard), but this deal seems to pretty much be done.

#NBA 1st big package trade reported from #AS10 - Wiz give up Butler, Haywood & Stevenson for Mavs Howard, Gooden, Singleton & Ross.

Dallas is currently a half-game behind the Jazz for #3 in the West. Chances seem pretty good that they've improved with this trade. All of a sudden, they have a starting 5 of Kidd, JET, Butler, Dirk & Haywood. Which looks fairly intimidating right now.

With the All-Star break now upon us, a quick look at things Jazz related (directly or indirectly).

-> First things first... the All-Star Game is a complete joke. And this isn't even some "Boozer should've made it" rant (though he should have... I mean... Jason Kidd?)... it's just a complete waste of time/space/money. Well, obviously not to the NBA, but now we have 4 days without there being any games. What?

-> The Jazz enter the break at 32-19, 2 games behind the Nuggets for 1st in the Northwest & 7.5 games behind the Lakers for 1st in the West. They currently sit at 3rd place in the West, for what it's worth.

-> The Jazz 'will look long and hard at trades'. In other words... nothing is happening. We better hope the 2nd 'half' (not really a half) features the team that was rolling during their winning streak, and not the one that showed up during the Clippers/Lakers games.

-> A Q&A with Greg Miller. Of note... it came down to leaving the games on KJZZ for everyone to watch or taking FSN's money to match the Paul Millsap offer. I'm now expecting them to move to Versus next year so that they can keep Ronnie Brewer around. ... He thinks the Jazz can get back to the finals this season. Yeah, sure. Provided the Lakers trade places with the LA Galaxy. And we can convince AK & CJ that they're not exceptional jump shooters. ... The Jazz might go back to the old logo!

-> moni does some number crunching. The results? Over the last 25 years, the Jazz by-far have the best ratio of winning % to top-10 lottery picks. Sadly, that obviously isn't enough to win the team a championship.

-> Trade talk Jazz guy to keep an eye on... Ronnie Brewer?

-> Trade rumors galore with just a week left before the deadline.

• New York/Washington/Houston 3-way involving T-Mac, Brendan Haywood, Caron Butler & Al Harrington?
• Troy Murphy is drawing interest. The Cavs, Bucks & Kings are all rumored. The Pacers want Ersan Ilyasova from the Bucks, but that doesn't seem likely.
  
• The Cavs are also looking at Antawn Jamison, but the Wiz want to throw in Mike James' contract & get a high-upside player (JJ Hickson?) as well.
• Portland, San Antonio, Denver, Charlotte, Sacramento... is the whole league (save Chicago & the Jazz) interested in Tyrus Thomas?
• There seems to be a market for Luke Ridnour, currently consisting of the Knicks & the Pacers.
• Kurt Thomas to the Hawks?
• The Cavs might be looking at Richard Hamilton.
• Amar'e for Michael Beasley?
• Kevin Martin is drawing some interest as well... some from good teams (Dallas), some from some not so good teams (Minnesota).
• Andre Iguodala/Samuel Dalembert for Amar'e?
• Iggy to Dallas?
• Ray Allen + junk for Antawn Jamison AND Caron Butler??!?!?! How is that trade rumor even legal?
• Andris Biedrins might be available.
• Kirk Hinrich & John Salmons might also be available. The Bulls are just looking to lose salaries.

-> Notice the lack of Jazz rumors. While rumors generally mean nothing, it is interesting to note that other teams continue to try and improve. And given the class of the West (the Lakers) and how badly the Jazz match up with them, you'd think they'd try to do something about that.

-> Unrelated, with regards to a potential lockout... the 5 teams that might be making money this season. The Lakers. The Bulls. The Knicks. The Celtics? And the ... Clippers?!?!?! Maybe if the NBA didn't seem so crappy at times, they'd have better luck. All this emphasis on cutting salary and winning the lottery and the bad refs and inconsistent calls and all... maybe the NBA just needs to change things up.