Dell Curry trade

[sipclip]

I was too young to follow the jazz back then but trading Curry who was going into his second season for a washed up Darryl Dawkins has to be one of the lower key disastrous trades in jazz history. Obviously Curry wasn't a star but I can't help but feel like he may have been the missing piece when it comes to those late 80's jazz teams. Adding one more offensive weapon that would have spaced the floor to create even more room for Stockton and Malone to operate may have made the difference. Those teams were elite defensively with Eaton anchoring the paint but in the bottom half of the league offensively. Are any of you old enough to remember the reasoning behind that trade?

[Inigo Montoya]

I wasn't around back then either. Can't say I have an answer either way.

[MeestR]

Looks like Mel Turpin arrived as well. So trading a rookie 3rd stringer off the bench for a veteran presence in Dawkins and a likely backup to Eaton seemed kinda sensible. It sucks that Turpin ultimately ended up getting waived after a year. He had a couple of good years in Cleveland. Benson, who the Jazz included in the trade was at the end of his career also.

It looks like the Jazz were just looking for a younger big man, and sacrificing the rookie struggling for playing time had to be the price.

Take heart though, Cleveland only had Curry for a year before Charlotte claimed him in the expansion draft. If he stayed in Utah, he likely would have suffered the same fate.

[devilsadvocate9]

I wasn't aware of any of this, thanks for sharing

It 100% puts them over the top in 1988 against the Lakers. Fun what if scenario

[devilsadvocate9]

Another similar terrible trade:
June 24, 1992: Eric Murdock Traded by the Utah Jazz with Blue Edwards and a 1992 1st round draft pick (Lee Mayberry was later selected) to the Milwaukee Bucks for Jay Humphries and Larry Krystkowiak.

Murdock was there first round pick in 1991, averaged 4 points as a rookie, they traded him and his next two years averaged 14.4 and 15.3 The players they received never did much

The pick they traded to MIL the next year was one selection before Sprewell

Stockton, Malone and then Dell Curry were 3 A+ Draft years, but you have to look years ahead for their next non F draft pick (Bryon Russell in 1993)

[Crunch 99]

The main thing I remember about Dell Curry is looking at his three point stats the next 15 seasons and wishing we still had him. He didn't get a lot of playing time his only year with the Jazz, his rookie year, and he had not started to nail threes at a good percentage. But he probably wouldn't have gotten a lot of three point shot attempts had we kept him anyway. Jerry Sloan generally eschewed the three pointer during that era, using it as a last resort.

The sortable team stats at NBA.com only go back to 96-97, but we were dead last in three point attempts in 96-97 and 97-98, notwithstanding having Stockton, Hornacek and Russell, all good career, high percentage three point shooters.

Given Jerry's Sloan's great winning record that was only defeated by the goat Jordan, I can't complain. RIP Jerry. We miss your greatness!

I can't remember exactly why we wanted "Dinner Bell Mell" and "Chocolate Thunder", but we liked big bodies inside. We had another big guy not long before that for the last year of his NBA career known as "The Whopper". Maybe Frank Layden liked to go out to eat with these guys.