‘1990’s Jeff Malone’ (Tim DeFrisco - NBAE/Getty Images)

With free agent season upon us, let’s take a moment to consider the top ten transactions in Utah Jazz history. Transactions include trades and free agent signings. Were we to include draft picks, the Malone and Stockton selections would obviously rank first and second in franchise history. While draft picks themselves don’t count, we can ponder trades to acquire picks—such as the move up to nab Deron Williams in 2005. In this debate, we have the benefit of hindsight for trades like the Jeff Hornacek deal, knowing that his acquisition pushed a good team to the level of true title contender. We can’t make the same historical judgment yet on the signings of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur—their time with the Jazz hasn’t expired, and we don’t yet know how far they will take this team. With the ground rules laid, let us proceed!

1. Adrian Dantley trade, 1979
The Jazz would not have remained in Utah without Adrian Dantley. Before Stockton and Malone, Dantley kept the franchise afloat. Arriving in Salt Lake via trade with the Lakers in September, 1979, Dantley was a natural, a born scorer, one of those perfect specimens created by the hoop gods to put the ball in the basket. The man averaged more than thirty points per game for four consecutive seasons (1981-1984), leading the league in scoring twice and in minutes once. Before Stockton-to-Malone led us to the brink of unimaginable glory, Dantley held down the fort during a basketball town’s frontier days.

2. Jeff Hornacek trade, 1994
Jeff Hornacek was not the second best player ever acquired by the Jazz in a non-draft move (Boozer and Okur outrank him). However, his contributions to two Western Conference champion squads dramatically increase the significance of the deal made to obtain Horny. The Jazz had already visited the Western Conference Finals once and had been a mid-level playoff team for several years. The Hornacek trade upped the stakes and gave the Jazz the true three point threat that Jeff Malone could never offer.

3. Draft day trade, 2005
Following their disappointing (wild understatement) 2004-05 season, the Jazz desperately needed to draft a point guard. The lottery dealt the Jazz the sixth pick, leaving them outside the range of Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and Raymond Felton, all projected to go in the top five. Hours before the draft, the Jazz sent the sixth and twenty-seventh over all picks, as well as a future selection acquired from Detroit, to
Portland for the third pick. The Jazz took Williams, a bigger and more durable player than Chris Paul. The rest is the history that Williams is currently writing, a story that will almost certainly end with D-Will either first or second on this list.

4. Carlos Boozer signing, 2004
I’ll never forget the day it happened—visiting home in Salt Lake while I was living in New York, excited about the Jazz’s surprising 2003-04 campaign, I answered a call from my brother who hollered, “We just got Carlos Boozer!” This transaction marks the first free agent signing on the list. The Jazz essentially got Boozer for nothing (as opposed to the Hornacek deal, where the Jazz improved, but still had to give up a quality player in Jeff Malone). Many fans, myself included, felt tremendously let down by Boozer’s lack of production during the 2008 playoffs. Yet we can’t forget the way he carried the Jazz deep into the 2007 post season. Williams had brilliant moments and garnered national attention from the likes of Charles Barkley, but Boozer was the horse that pulled the wagon. Even after missing half of two seasons due to injury, Boozer has made a huge impact in Salt Lake. Whether he decides to leave or remain in Utah may determine whether Boozer ultimately rises or falls on this list.

5. Mehmet Okur signing, 2004
Okur, also obtained as a free agent, came to the Jazz during the same off-season as Boozer. Both big men can rebound, but the outside v. inside scoring of the two makes for an interesting comparison. At his best, Boozer is the proverbial bull in a china shop in the paint. Yet he has proven less durable than Okur. Memo carried the Jazz through the Boozer-less stretch in 2007, a run that made Okur an All Star. Okur’s offensive skills—especially his jump shot—make one wonder whether he could fill Boozer’s spot in the pick and roll game with Williams. What might the Jazz look like with Okur at the power forward and a defensive stalwart at center? Food for thought…

6. Jeff Malone trade, 1990
The Jazz acquired a player coming off a career high 24 points per game, capping a five year stretch where he never averaged less than 20. And they got him for Bobby Hansen and Eric Leckner. Are you kidding? The deal for Jeff Malone might be most significant because the Jazz would later use this “other” Malone to acquire Jeff Hornacek. While Hornacek clearly made the Jazz a better team, he couldn’t match the 20 points per game Malone scored forUtah in 1992. Malone excelled at those crazy looking shots where his body seemed to be parallel to the floor. Yet his lack of range—eight made 3-pointers in nearly four seasons with the Jazz—eventually necessitated Malone’s ticket out of Utah.

7. Ricky Green signing, 1980
The Fastest of ‘em All, as Hot Rod used to say, helped lead the Jazz to their first playoff success in the years before Stockton and Malone.
Stockton undoubtedly benefited from initially playing behind Green and learning from him. Green led the NBA in steals in 1983-84, a year in which he also made the All Star team. When he turned the reins over to Stockton, Green had dished more assists than any player in Jazz history.

8. Matt Harpring signing, 2002
Aside from Jarron Collins, Harpring is the only Jazz player with a link to Stockton and Malone. He averaged an impressive 17.6 points per game in his first campaign with the Jazz, more than making up for the void left by Donyell Marshall’s departure. Molded in the image of Jerry Sloan himself, Harpring brings a much needed toughness to the Jazz. Hubie Brown has more than once referred to Harpring as a “bull.” A fan favorite, Harpring has played an important supporting role in Utah’s last two playoff runs.

9. Derrick Fisher trade, 2006
Fisher played only a year with the Jazz, one in which he shot below 40% from the field. Yet Fisher’s experience and leadership proved huge in the playoffs. He averaged 9.5 points in the post season, shooting 93% from the free throw line and lifting the Jazz to victory in Game 2 of the
Golden State series. Having a veteran guard behind Williams—as well as alongside him in many instances—undoubtedly aided D-Will’s development.

10. Donyell Marshall trade, 2000
In a trade involving four teams and nine players, the Jazz netted Marshall for Howard Eisley and Adam Keefe. Marshall provided scoring and rebounding, as well as a blocked shot per game, as Stockton and Malone moved into the twilight of their respective careers. It’s too bad the Jazz didn’t have someone of Marshall’s caliber occupying Chris Morris’ roster spot during the two NBA Finals runs.

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