Jazz Make Deal For Marshall

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Jazz make deal for Marshall

Sorry for the formatting, I'm not as good as Ray *grinz*

               Utah agrees to trade vets Eisley, Keefe, Padgett

               By Tim Buckley
               Deseret News sports writer

                     The Jazz are poised to salvage something out of the
Howard Eisley affair after all.
                     And they love what they're in line to get, too.
                     Just a few days ago, the Jazz feared free agent
point guard Eisley would leave Utah to sign
               with the Dallas Mavericks — and they would get nothing in
return.
                     Monday morning, though, the Jazz were about to
complete a four-team multiplayer trade
               that, pending NBA approval, will bring strong-rebounding
Golden State Warriors forward Donyell
               Marshall to Utah.
                     While Marshall is the centerpiece of the deal from
their perspective, the Jazz also would
               acquire Bruno Sundov, a 7-foot-2 Croatian center from
Dallas, and Bill Curley, a free-agent
               journeyman power forward from Golden State who has also
played for Detroit, Minnesota and
               Houston.
                     Departing Utah are forward Adam Keefe, a former
Jazz starter who is off to Golden State;
               forward Scott Padgett, a rookie last season who is now
headed to Dallas along with Eisley; and a
               draft pick.
                     The megadeal, a strikingly close version of the one
they worked furiously to make last Friday,
               would start with the Jazz re-signing Eisley, the former
heir apparent to John Stockton who last
               Monday rejected their five-year, $20 million offer. The
Jazz will then trade Eisley to the Mavericks,
               who had planned on signing him to the $2.25 million
midlevel salary-cap exception slot if they
               could not work out the sign-and-trade that now seems to
have fallen into place.
                     The other major component of the deal is a
sign-and-trade that involves Boston power
               forward Danny Forston moving to Golden State, which has
been working all summer long to find a
               way to acquire him. Besides Eisley and Padgett, Dallas
will also receive guard Dana Barros from
               Boston. The Celtics will land Dallas guard Robert Pack,
Dallas big man John "Hot Rod" Williams and
               one of two 2001 first-round draft picks owned by the
Jazz.
                     An undetermined amount of cash, most or all coming
from Dallas, also will change hands in the
               multifaceted transaction, which the league must make sure
conforms to the NBA's complicated
               Collective Bargaining Agreement and salary-cap rules.
                     Several players were added to the deal to make sure
it does, including Curley. The Mavericks
               reluctantly included Sundov, a 1998 second-round draft
pick who has played sparingly (17 games)
               in the NBA.
                     "Bruno (Sundov), by the way, is one of the hardest
working, nicest guys on the team," Mavs
               owner Mark Cuban said via e-mail on Monday morning. "You
will be pleasantly surprised. . . . He
               really is a player and we are sad to see him go."
                     The anticipated addition of Marshall excites Utah
executives working to upgrade the roster of
               the Jazz, who already this offseason have re-signed
reserve point guard Jacque Vaughn and
               added veterans John Crotty, John Starks and Danny Manning
to replace Eisley, retiring shooting
               guard Jeff Hornacek and free agent forward Armen Gilliam.

                     Marshall, a 6-foot-9, 230-pounder from the
University of Connecticut, was selected by
               Minnesota fourth overall in the first round of the 1994
NBA Draft.
                     The Pennsylvania native was traded in his rookie
season to Golden State, where last season
               he averaged 14.2 points and a career-high 10 rebounds per
game — making him one of just eight
               NBAers to play in 30 or more games and post a
scoring-rebounding double-double average in
               1999-2000.
                     Marshall, not known for his defense, is a small
forward who can also play power forward. He
               would join Manning in providing off-the-bench help behind
Karl Malone and Bryon Russell.
                     Representatives of all four teams worked over the
weekend to finalize the trade, which
               developed as a result of Golden State's interest in
obtaining in Forston, who also was being
               pursued by the New York Knicks, Dallas' desire to move
Pack, Utah's hope that Eisley would not
               sign elsewhere without it getting something in return,
and Boston's hope for the same with regard
               to Fortson.
                     Last summer, swingman Shandon Anderson — who is
represented by Dan Fegan, the same
               agent that Eisley and Padgett employ — left Utah for
Houston for the midlevel exception. The Jazz
               were left standing empty-handed.
                     This summer, Jazz basketball operations vice
president Kevin O'Connor vowed to try to recoup
               something for Eisley should he opt against returning to
the Jazz.
                     Sunday afternoon, Cuban indicated the Celtics may
have been holding up the potential
               four-team deal. They also were said to be discussing a
potential trade that would have involved
               sending Marshall and others to Boston for Forston and
Barros — a transaction that would have
               bypassed the Jazz and Mavericks altogether. Late Sunday
night, however, all four teams came to
               agreement.