Kyle, Join the Club...

What do Keith Van Horn, Matt Harpring, and Kyle Korver all have in common? I'll give you a hint-- they don't all share Korver's good looks. But they just so happen to be perimeter shooters who have followed the same path from the Sixers to the Jazz.

Just when you think things are peachy-keen in Sixerland and the team might not need so much rebuilding afterall, this happens. Ed Stefanski announces the Kyle Korver trade just four days before his team takes on Korver's new squad, the Jazz.

I don't like this trade one bit. With Billy King (finally) out of the picture, I thought my days of complaining about poor moves for the Sixers were over. Gordan Giricek and Utah coach Jerry Sloan were not on good terms after an in-huddle argument during the Jazz's game against Charlotte. Giricek was benched for three games. Now we all know Jerry Sloan's got a temper. One of the first live NBA games I ever saw was against the Jazz and Sloan was tossed. From that moment on he was labeled an angry man in my book. Chances are he overreacted to whatever the disagreement was with Giricek, but how can we be sure? Why trade for a potentially problem-causing player who only averages 4.3 PPG and has been a DNP-CD 13 times this season? It makes no sense.

True, the Sixers get a first round pick out of it. But what the world doesn't realize is.... what did Ed Stefanski do for the Nets after he took over as GM? No draft picks of note. Plus, they didn't get past the conference semis in the playoffs under Stefanski, so no first round draft pick was helping them there.

It just doesn't make sense. The Sixers didn't need to trade for a player like Giricek who, in his young age, already appears past his prime. I hope he proves me wrong.

Even more, I hope this trade is just acquiring the necessary pieces to make a bigger trade and acquire a star-caliber player or close to it. If not, at least the Sixers will have more cap room this summer-- Giricek is in the final year of his contract. Now they'd better use the cap space and use it well.

Looking at this trade from the perspective that it is only this trade and nothing else: Ed Stefanski gets a D for his first move as Sixers GM. And that's only because I'm too nice to give him an F.

~emz