How's this for a weird deal: The Utah Jazz traded Jay Humphries to the Boston Celtics on Friday for Blue Edwards, the guy the Jazz traded to Milwaukee in June 1992 for Humphries.
Humphries, 32, has spent much of this season on the injured list, and when he hasn't been injured he's been ineffective. The Jazz also threw in a second-round pick, the one they got from Philadelphia in the Jeff Hornacek-Jeff Malone deal, to get Edwards, who is expected to join the team in Los Angeles for Tuesday night's game against the Clippers.Edwards, 29, the Jazz's first-round pick in 1989, was traded this season to the Celtics along with Derek Strong for Ed Pinckney and the draft rights to Andrei Fetisov. But after two seasons with the Bucks in which he'd averaged 16.9 and 11.6 points per game, he soon vanished in Boston. He's appeared in 31 games this season, shooting 42 percent from the field. It's been two weeks since he last appeared in a game.
"I got 10 minutes of garbage time against Miami," Edwards said. "We were down 25 when I came into the game. Definitely not fun."
For that reason, Edwards is ecstatic about his return to Utah.
"I think it's a great deal," he said. "It will be like going back home."
The only possible hangup on the deal is that both players must pass physicals. Edwards said that's no problem in his case, but Humphries' gimpy knees could be another question.
"I'm 100 percent healthy," Edwards said. "I would hate to think he can't pass the physical. I'm crossing my fingers."
Scott Layden, Jazz director of basketball operations, said he thought Humphries would clear the physical.
"He's been making progress," Layden said. "I think he'll be OK."
This trade has been rumored for weeks; when the Jazz visited Boston a couple of weeks ago, Edwards told reporters he was all for it. Layden said the deal really started to come together Thursday.
"We've always liked Blue," Layden said. "We hated to part with him when we first traded him, but now it's exciting to get him back . . . he's someone who is going to help us out in the stretch run toward the playoffs."
On the surface this seems like a trade that is exclusively good for the Jazz, since they get a younger player who can play big guard and small forward in exchange for an older player who wasn't playing at all, but it's not bad for Boston, either. Humphries is in the final year of a three-year deal and becomes a free agent after the season, which will free up money so Celtics wheeler-dealer M.L. Carr can buy another Dominique Wilkins. And the second-round pick, being Philadelphia's, will be a high second-rounder, which alone may compensate Boston for a guy - Edwards - who had fallen into disfavor.
One question Jazz fans may wonder about is how Sloan and Edwards will reconcile problems they reportedly experienced before. Layden said that's no big deal.
"I think it was blown way out of proportion," he said. "Or else why would we bring him back. We try to get good guys in here. Whatever problems there were, they were nothing that doesn't happen day-in, day-out with any team."
Sloan, in Dallas for Saturday night's game against the Mavericks, said he talked to Edwards on Friday and welcomed him back to the team. But as for where Edwards might fit in, the coach said it'd be a wait-and-see thing.
"I don't know where he is with his game," he said. "And we've played pretty well without an 11th or 12th player."
Edwards said that even if he continues to ride the bench, he's happier to ride it in Salt Lake City.
"If I'm going to not play, I'd rather do it for a team that can go a long way," he said. Asked if he thought it would be tough to break into Utah's rotation, he said, "Probably so. I'm sure they are set. But there's no pressure for me to come in and make things happen right away."
The team has undergone some changes since Edwards was here last. For one thing, only three players remain - John Stockton, Karl Malone and David Benoit - from the 1991-92 Jazz. But Sloan said the basic schemes are familiar enough that Edwards should be able to adjust quickly.
Utah fans, meanwhile, who have been anticipating a trade for a big guy, may be wondering what the team is up to. But Sloan said this move is unrelated to any effort by the Jazz to find a center to replace the injured Felton Spencer.
"This has nothing to do with that," Sloan said. "We haven't had the opportunity to trade for a big guy."
In case you're wondering, Saturday's game is the last James Donaldson can play under his second 10-day contract. If the Jazz want to keep him after that, they'll have to sign him for the remainder of the season.