7) Gordan Giricek, G/F — Croatia
To begin the ’03-04 season, a young DeShawn Stevenson was the starting shooting guard for Utah. And while he was a great athlete, an improved shooter and had raised his scoring to over 11 points per game, he didn’t pack the punch offensively that the Jazz needed. So, then-GM Kevin O’Connor swapped him for Gordan Giricek.
The 6-foot-6 wing was a hit initially. He stepped right into Stevenson’s old spot and closed the year scoring over 13 points per game and hitting 36 percent of his triples. Unfortunately, that 25-game stretch probably represents the high-water mark of his Jazz career.
Giricek suffered lapses defensively, clashed with Jerry Sloan at times and even became inconsistent shooting the ball.
Still, he spent more than four years in Utah and was usually an important part of the rotation, not to mention one of the NBA’s better deep threats over that span. Giri was also the player that netted the Jazz Kyle Korver via trade, so kudos to him for that.
After leaving Utah, he got choked out by Shaquille O’Neal. Cool.
Jazz stats: 226 GP (104 starts), 8.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, .442 FG%, .373 3P%
Next: No. 6