Kevin O'Connor interview - MON, 2/15

[Fido]

KFAN had their weekly interview with Kevin O'Connor and there was some interesting tidbits:
- Regarding Wizards/Mavs deal: Both teams accomplished what they wanted in that deal. Some say Dallas got the best of it but remember--Josh Howard was an All-Star 2 years ago.
- Did the Jazz talk with the Wizards about those players? Sure. Did they talk more than once? Sure. What it all came down to is that Dallas had some things that matched what Washington wanted.
Later in the interview he said someone commented about a trade rumor where Utah may send "their PF" to Washington in a deal--but his thought was--"doesn't Washington have Antawn Jamison already?"
- Do teams react when they see a team like Dallas improve at the deadline? Yes. Would Utah react? Yes, if the move helps the team to get better.
- If they really wanted to, they could have been under the luxury tax last year by not resigning Millsap. But it is a conscious decision they made. The follow on move with Harpring/Maynor was to save a significant amount of money and one they didn't feel would hurt them this year with Price and (eventually) Gaines.
- Would the Jazz make another financially-motivated move? Yes--if it was going to make a significant difference and not hurt their performance they would.
- How do you balance immediate need vs. long-term needs? O'Connor said "you always have to be thinking long-term". However, if there is a deal that helps immediately and doesn't jeopardize you long term you also look at it.
- Does the current CBA negotiations make teams hesitant to make deals? Yes--it does make teams "reticent" to take on deals because you do not know what you are going to be dealing with

***Phone rings in the background*** O'Connor says to Ben Bagley, "Can you hold on for a minute?" Bagley excuses him and after a couple of minutes, O'Connor is back on and says it was another team calling so he apologized for having to take the call.

The interview continues...
- Does he read the rumors about what he is possibly going to do and laugh? No, can't read the rumors. He lives it day in day out. If he was right about things as often as the shows and websites are he would be out of a job.

At this point I had to turn the car radio off. Interesting stuff....

[carrottop12]

This entire post is false.

I heard from a reliable source that Kevin O'Connor is in fact asleep at the wheel.

[Fido]

Nice.....

[HolyToledo]

This so called interview says nothing other than KOC wakes up once in awhile to answer a telephone call from a GM that wants to make a trade and KOC response is wrong number. Just dump Brewer or Miles to Memphis in a salary dump and get eliminated in the second round and be happy about it KOC as overly conservative Utah Jazz fans and Soan lovers are just happy to make the playoffs. A small market team with a small market mentality.

[stevebozell]

Im with HolyT.....I bet that phone call was staged.

[Hikari]

This intervew is going to be up on podcast.

[Fido]

I heard from someone who finished listening to the interview that David Locke came on after O'Connor and said his sources told him the Jazz were offering the Harpring TPE for Haywood. Washington decided they wanted a player instead of just the cap savings and the Mavericks package helped them dump additional contracts AND get a player they wanted.

[StocktonShorts]

Jazz probably refused to take back DeShawn.

[DelaneyRudd]

I would refuse to take back Deshawn.

[hoops4life]

This entire post is false.

I heard from a reliable source that Kevin O'Connor is in fact asleep at the wheel.

I was going to post this first thing this morning. I thought the exact same thing as you did.