Perhaps with an eye to the future, the Utah Jazz on Friday signed free-agent center Felton Spencer, then traded him to the Orlando Magic for Brooks Thompson, Kenny Gattison and a future first-round pick.
"This trade is about a lot of things," said Tim Howells, Jazz general manager. "It's about getting a little bit younger, with Thompson, and it's about the future, in terms of the draft pick."The Jazz now have six first-round draft picks over the next four seasons, perhaps marking the beginning of a restocking project in anticipation of the eventual departures of stars Karl Malone and John Stockton.
The first-round pick from Orlando will be taken in one of the next three years, according to Howells. If the draft choice isn't received in the first two years of the deal, it will automatically be the Jazz's in 1999.
In the meantime, the Jazz now have 13 players under contract, one over the league roster limit of 12. While Howells said that Scott Layden, Jazz director of basketball operations, has always liked Thompson, he also noted that it wouldn't be out of the question for neither of these players to be on the team's opening-day roster.
Howells also said this may not be the team's last deal before the season opens Nov. 1.
"There's nothing imminent, but I can assure you, we're still working," he said. "We'll continue to actively probe possibilities out there."
This trade leaves the Jazz with three players who saw action at the center position last season - second-year man Greg Ostertag, Greg Foster and Antoine Carr. Asked if he'd feel confident opening the season with that trio at center, Howells said, "We feel pretty comfortable with that. We're pleased with the progress of Greg Ostertag. I'm sure Jerry (Sloan) has plans to give him quite a bit more (playing) time."
Thompson, 26, a 6-foot-4 guard, was Orlando's first-round draft pick out of Oklahoma State in 1994. In two seasons with the Magic he played sparingly, appearing in a total of 71 games, 33 last season. He averaged 4.2 points per game in the 1995-96 season, shooting 46.6 percent from the field, 39 percent from the three-point line. In two games against the Jazz last season, Thompson did not play.
Gattison, 32, a 6-8, 252-pound power forward, has also played little the past two seasons. He was popped in the nose by Michael Cage early in the 1994-95 season, in the process suffering a whiplash-type injury to his spinal cord. He eventually underwent surgery to fuse two neck vertebrae, and his career was considered in jeopardy at one point.
At that time, Gattison said, "I'm not worried about the physical part of coming back, I'm only worried about the mental part. Will I be gun-shy? If that's the case, I won't come back. If I can't play the game the way I'm used to playing it, if I can't go in there and bang with people, I won't play. I don't want to just shoot jumpers."
Gattison was taken by Vancouver in the expansion draft prior to last season, and played 25 games with the Grizzlies. He averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds with the Grizz, shooting 47.9 percent from the field. Still suffering from a sore neck, Gattison was traded to Orlando at midseason for Jeff Turner. Gattison never played for the Magic.
Gattison was a highly respected player with the Hornets. Former Charlotte center Alonzo Mourning once said of him: "Even though Chief (Robert Parish) is older, I think we all look at Gatt as the father figure. Gatt may not have the most athletic ability on the team, but he gets the most out of it, and nobody is more respected."
Spencer was acquired by the Jazz from Minnesota in June 1993 in exchange for Mike Brown. Spencer played three seasons in Utah, his best being 1994-95 when he averaged 9.3 points and 7.6 rebounds. He ruptured an Achilles tendon in January 1995 in Boston, missing the rest of that season and the first 11 games of last season. After his return to action he had chronic foul problems; despite starting, he averaged just 17.8 minutes per game. In the playoffs, he averaged 5.2 points, 5.6 rebounds.
"The Achilles hampered me a little bit," Spencer admitted. "I was a little rusty. With all the people we had in the middle, it was hard for me to get a lot of minutes where I could get in a groove."
Spencer acknowledged Friday that he was "sad to be leaving Salt Lake City," while at the same time noting that "a change of scenery is sometimes the best thing." He said he wasn't hurt by the Jazz's obvious unwillingness to bring him back.
"That's the NBA," he said. "I'd be the first to admit I had a subpar season last year. And they were trying to find guys who could come in and help the team more than I could."
His challenge in Orlando will be replacing All-Star Shaquille O'Neal.
"That doesn't really bother me at all," he said. "I think everybody knows I'm not Shaquille O'Neal. There's only one Shaq."