Utah Jazz: Lyles for Mitchell and the Top 7 trades in team history
By Ryan Aston
7) Former All-Star Jeff Malone joins the Jazz; June 25, 1990
The Utah Jazz acquire Jeff Malone from the Washington Bullets in a three-team trade. Washington receives Pervis Ellison from the Sacramento Kings, while the Jazz send Bobby Hansen, Eric Leckner, a future first-round draft pick and two future second-round picks to the Kings. The Bullets also convey a future second-round pick to Sacramento.
Utah’s deal to net sharpshooter Jeff Malone was big for the Jazz franchise. Not just in terms of what it yielded at the time, but in the future as well. We’ll get to that later in the countdown, though.
During his Bullets heyday in the ’80s, Malone with a J was one of the league’s best pure scorers. Early in his career, he had been one of the Association’s best at using screens, hard cuts and off-ball movement to create open shots for himself. He was also the master of the long two, knocking down 20-foot jump shots with deadly accuracy.
By the time the Jazz brought him in, the tread on his tires was pretty worn. I’ve got vivid memories of him laying flat on the hardwood to rest his aching back when he went to the bench. Nevertheless, Malone averaged nearly 19 points per game over four years with the Jazz.
During that time, he appeared in 30 playoff games for the Jazz and helped them advance to the 1992 Western Conference Finals. Not bad for an old dog, eh?
The fact that this deal only costed the Jazz Eric Leckner, an end of the bench guy, and Bobby Hansen, who would be out of the league two years later, is incredible.
Next: Wheeling and dealing for Deron