Boris Diaw to Jazz: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction
After four-and-a-half seasons, Boris Diaw's time with the San Antonio Spurs is over. The team sent Diaw to the Utah Jazz for 2015 second-round pick Olivier Hanlan on Tuesday, according to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Diaw took to Twitter after the news broke: "Spurs' fans, thanks for all your messages. Great years here and a ring! Leaving but San Antonio will always be a special place to me."
He also had a message for his new team:
The writing was on the wall regarding Diaw's future when the Spurs started making a hard run at center Pau Gasol. Wojnarowski reported Monday that San Antonio was trying to offload him in order to free up cap space, and David Aldridge of NBA.com noted the trade will allow the Gasol signing to take place.
The Cauldron's Nate Duncan detailed the financial ramifications of trading Diaw:
He averaged 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in his final season with the team. He also shot 52.7 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from three-point range.
Motivation will be one of the biggest questions around Diaw now that he's out of San Antonio.
He got steadily worse during his time with the then-Charlotte Bobcats, to the point the team bought out the final year of his contract rather than letting him finish out the season. Then-head coach Paul Silas had unloaded on Diaw shortly before his departure, per ESPN.com:
"I like a player who is really committed to not only the team but to himself and then doing the best he can as a player. Some of the things that would go on, like not shooting the ball, passing all of the time, that doesn't help us.
I needed hoops and he could put the ball in the hoop. When that wouldn't happen, it was very disturbing.
I think if he had played all out, the way he should have, it would have been a much, much better club.
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After joining the Spurs, though, Diaw was rejuvenated. He became a vital role player for the team, averaging 11.8 points, six rebounds and 4.1 assists per 36 minutes during his time there, per Basketball-Reference.com.
The 34-year-old displayed the kind of intuition on the court that often frustrates fans who feel the Frenchman never fulfilled his massive potential.
"He understands spatial relationships on the court," said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich of Diaw, per Sports Illustrated's Andrew Sharp. "He can find open people, he can post up for us. He allows us to stay big when the other team goes small. His versatility's real important to us."
And yet, not even Popovich and the overall culture surrounding the Spurs could erase Diaw's bouts of inconsistency. He didn't play a minute of the Spurs' Game 6 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the playoffs.
For the San Antonio Express-News' Buck Harvey, that was the beginning of the end: "But what happened last week suggests this relationship is closer to the end than it has ever been. Popovich gave up on Diaw in Oklahoma City, and it wasn't because of an injury or matchups. As it has been before, Popovich sees something in Diaw that he doesn't get."
At this point in his career, Diaw isn't going to change. On some nights, he'll show flashes of the multifaceted forward who got fans excited in Phoenix. On other nights, he'll go anonymous.
Diaw can still be an effective offensive player—albeit in a more limited role. He isn't going to transform Utah's roster, but he'll provide some nice depth in the frontcourt as long as he's fully committed alongside Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors and Trey Lyles.
Indeed, the Jazz have continued to build a strong roster, as the addition of veteran guard George Hill this offseason alongside Diaw will help supplement a strong crop of young talent. Utah isn't on the level of the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs or Los Angeles Clippers, surely, but they'll be competitive and in the running for a postseason berth in 2016-17.
