Greg Foster, after playing for six teams in seven years, thought he'd found a home in Utah. Instead, he'll once again be loading up the moving van.Rony Seikaly, who the Jazz thought they had in a trade two years ago, is really coming to Salt Lake City this time.
Foster, Chris Morris and Utah's first-round draft pick this June were traded Monday night to the Orlando Magic for Seikaly, an athletic, 6-11 veteran center.
Foster appeared shaken up and near tears by news of the trade immediately after hearing about it. But after spending most of the first half of Monday's Jazz game against the Charlotte Hornets in the team locker room, he was the model of composure when coming out to meet the press.
The Jazz "gave me an opportunity to showcase what I can do," said Foster, who averaged 5.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game this season. "I went from being untradeable to being tradeable.
I just wish them good luck . . . . I have a positive outlook on the whole thing and I feel no ill will towards anyone."
It was Utah's biggest deal since they stole Jeff Hornacek away from the Philadelphia 76ers for Jeff Malone four years ago at this time. Like the Hornacek-for-Malone deal, Monday's deal is a trade that doesn't seem fair.
The Jazz are getting a tall, athletic veteran - a proven scorer and rebounder - while giving up in essence, a couple of role players and a late first-round draft pick. The Jazz did not have to give away the more valuable first-round pick they receive from Orlando last year as part of a trade that sent Felton Spencer to the Magic.
Morris, who's $3 million salary slot was necessary to make the deal, has played the fewest minutes of any Jazzman this season. He's a free agent at season's end and it was obvious that he didn't figure in the Jazz's plans. He didn't play at all in 23 games this year and only sparingly in the other 26.
Morris will be reunited with Magic coach Chuck Daly, who coached him for two years in New Jersey. Morris admitted that he and Daly didn't always see eye-to-eye when they were both with the Nets, but feels they'll be able to get along just fine for the remainder of the season. He's hoping there will be a better opportunity for him to play with the Magic.
"It's like a marriage," said Morris of leaving the Jazz, "you get a divorce and move on. It's mixed emotions right now for me - leaving friends behind, figuring where we were headed, good times together. And that's pretty much what we had here - good times, not bad."
While Morris and Foster learned that they'd been traded to Orlando just prior to the Jazz's game, Seikaly didn't know where he was heading until after the Magic's victory at Atlanta. He knew, however, that he was headed somewhere, since he was being held out of action, but he wasn't told where.
That didn't go over well with the 10-year veteran, who was left to wonder where he would end up while sitting outside the visitor's locker room at the Georgia Dome in street clothes. His name had come up in trade talks the past couple of weeks with several different clubs including Boston, New York, Toronto, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
"I never thought the Magic would do this to me," he told the Orlando Sentinel. "They at least could have had the decency to tell me what was going on."
Seikaly, who has averaged 15.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for this career (with Miami, Golden State and Orlando), is averaging 15 points and 7.6 boards this year, although his numbers have been falling of late. In his last outing, Thursday against the Knicks, he was only 2-for-10 from the field, scoring six points with seven boards.
"People wonder why my game has been suffering," said Seikaly. "It's because of all this (expletive) going around about the trade."
He has also been hampered by ankle and back problems. He will undergo a physical exam by Jazz doctors upon arrival before the deal becomes official. He has 42 hours to report, but the Jazz are hoping he'll be in town and ready to play by Wednesday's game against the Knicks.
Seikaly's contract this year pays him $4 million - about $500,000 more than Morris' and Foster's combined. Seikaly is under contract for next season as well, at the Jazz's option. He has threatened, however, to play next season in Greece rather than coming back to the NBA if he were traded to a team he did not like.
The general consensus in the Jazz locker room was that they were sad to see Foster and Morris go, but that Seikaly will make the team better.
"Rony's been a quality player in this league for a long time and obviously we feel like he can make us a better team," said Jazz point guard John Stockton. "I think that everybody is looking forward to him getting here and starting to get acclimated as soon as possible."
Said Antoine Carr, "It's tough on me personally. (Foster and Morris) were two of my friends that were on the team, but that's the way the job is . . . . (Seikaly) brings us a big man who's going to do a lot of stuff inside. He can get some rebounds for us and he runs the floor very well for a big man."
Malone did not comment on the trade Monday, but Jazz vice president Scott Layden said the defending league MVP was informed about the trade talks and "very enthusiastically approved."
Stockton said he's excited about his new teammate, yet he's not expecting too much too soon.
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Additional information
What the trade means . . .
For the Jazz:
- Utah gets first-ever bonafide post scoring threat at center. Teams will be less likely to double-team Karl Malone with Rony Seikaly on the court.
- Gains additional rebounder.
- Team chemistry may be changed for the worse. Seikaly has a reputation as a "black hole," not inclined to pass once he gets the ball.
- Chris Morris will say his goodbyes to Utah a couple of months early.
For the Magic:
- Orlando has given up on this season; draft pick will help team rebuild.
- Morris, who clashed with Chuck Daly in New Jersey, is temporarily Daly's problem (again) - until he's sent packing after the season to free up salary cap space.
- Foster is decent back-up center,who has a nice outside shooting touch and is under contract at a bargain price for next season.
- Rids itself of an older player whose production has been declining, whose ankle and back have been bothering him and who has threatened to play in Greece next year.