"During his nine seasons with the Jazz, Andrei Kirilenko has become known as a dynamic, refreshing and versatile player.

And now the former cornerstone is the franchise albatross. Well, not A.K. the person, just his contract, which explains why his time here may end soon.

Kirilenko apparently will be traded to Denver in a four-team deal that I can understand, but can't endorse.

Not now, not there, not with Boris Diaw and Quinton Ross as the only things in return, other than partial relief from the $17.8 million Kirilenko is owed this season.

While it is true that the Jazz won a playoff series with Kirilenko sidelined last spring, they did not beat a Denver team that included Kirilenko. Trading him within the Northwest Division is cavalier and counterproductive amid everything the Jazz believe they're gaining in this transaction.

If last season told us anything, it was that there was no reason to panic, no need to conduct a fire sale for a player who was about to become a free agent. Nobody could say keeping Carlos Boozer until his contract expired hurt the Jazz, and then General Manager Kevin O'Connor nimbly replaced him by trading for Al Jefferson once Boozer departed to Chicago."