The trade that sent Mehmet Okur to New Jersey on Thursday was generally met with a sigh of resignation by the media.
Memo was one of the Jazz's most popular and down-to-earth players. I can't recall anyone in the media saying they didn't like Okur. He was happy, gentle and friendly. He once ran into a colleague of mine on a busy street in New York. He introduced my colleague to his wife and then invited him to dine with them.
Trust me, that's not normal for NBA players. In some cases they won't even say hi to a journalist on the street, much less ask him to lunch.
The injury to Okur during the 2009 playoffs was the start of his problems. Also, the Jazz added some big men in the past year, making Okur less vital. In two exhibition games he scored nine points and got three rebounds.
At any rate, Okur is now on a team with three other former Jazz players on the preseason roster: Sundiata Gaines, Deron Williams and Kris Humphries. Now all the Nets need to do is sign Andrei Kirilenko and the Jazz can be reincarnated in New Jersey.
Bring back Jerry Sloan.
