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Show The Salt Lake Tribune SPORTS Friday, September 26, 1997 Seattle Swaps Kemp, Gets Baker in 3-Way ! Miller Cautious, Hopeful Over NBA Labor Peace Larry Miller admits to being optimistic in his hope that the NBAwill notbe afflicted by a labor impasse next summer, acknowledging also that it }| {| ‘| i} ance is so delicate that it's Signing But Miller says he wouldn't agree to such drastic mea- sures unless the economiccli- Family in Utah belief that someone in the organization had told the media that Kemp had a drinking problem drastically. Given the league's Miller says, “It just doesn't seem like [a work stoppage] is a real possibility. But the bal- “It's a great bunch of guys.” The Jazz werethrilled, too, of course, wrapping up their battletested young center relatively cheaply and without having to compete with 28 other teams for theprivilege After getting a pat on the head and a hug from the nouveau riche, Jazz owner Larry Miller predicted the 24-year-old Ostertag will develop into a player with abilities “between very good and great,” depending on his work I do expectthat his agent will newstarting five. Gone from the slow-down crew that averaged just 87.5 points per game are “We heard of the problems he Brandon, Hill, Mark West, Chris Mills and Bobby Phills. pected since the disgruntled forward declared last May that he had worna Sonics uniform for the the few teamswith enoughsalary and give him a new deal. The franchisefora long time.” Seattle general manager Wally Walker $9.5 millionin salary cap room said. 5 “None of us should forget that. Despite what's gone on re- cently, we all havea soft spot in our heart for Shawn.” A straight-up Baker-for-Kemp deal had been rumored, and Walker said last week during the league meetings that he preferred to deal Kempto an Eastern Conference team. Sloan's criticism, those manymil- respond tohis call.” Embrysaid Cleveland and Coach MikeFra tello will now have anentirely Utah Snowmobile Association| Winter Sports Show & Sale | rT. 26 = 28, 1997 | Fni.- TING AT THE NEW feeCTA | 3200 S. DECKER LAKE. DRIVE -WEST VALLEY CITY, FRI, NOON 10 PM, SAT. M-10 PM, SUN, 10 AM-7 PM I SNEAK PREVIEW NA ‘W INTERNATIONAL SPORT EXPERIENCE THE THRILL! “T get blamed for Karl's mis- POLARIS takes,” he explained. BIKE/SKi SWAPISALE 30%-70% OFF Saturday 10-7 T&T Bike and Ski 3210 E. Little CottonwoodRd. EVERYTHING FOR SNOWMOBILING ANDWINTER SPORTS UNDER ONEROOF! Topeak il John Stockton to stick around. Embryindicated they would be calling and I do expect we will cap room to rip uphis contract it “T love this franchise,” said Os- diately re-do Kemp's contact Cavs, who were spurnedby every free agent they approached this summer, currently have about cultivate a sense of humor about tertag, whoalso professedto need no prodding from Karl Malone or Cavaliers general man Asked if the Cavs would imme- “Shawn was a great All-Star and reallythe cornerstone of this decided this summer that the time had comefora trade. lions apparently have helped him @ Continued from D-1 it's a problemasfar as we are conager Wayne Embry sai tract because of salary cap rules. amongthe first 10. A trade of Kemp had been ex- Jazz's playoff gameslast season, too. And though Ostertag endures a reputation as a player often at the business end of Coach Jerry had in Seattle. but we don't think cerned.” land, sending Kemp to the Cavaliers in a swap also involving AllStars Vin Baker and Terrell choice in 1998 if it doesn’t fall real." player would exercise an out butwilling — to redo Kemp's con- The Sonics will receive Baker from Milwaukee; the Bucks will get Brandon and Tyrone Hill; the Cays will get Kemp fromSeattle and Sherman Douglas from Milwaukee. The Bucks alsowill get Cleveland's first-round draft history and Commissioner David Stern's deft handling of previous labor disputes, TheSonics, who were unable — In dealing Baker. it seems the Bucks decided that their best clause in his contract and become a free agent in 1999 And in Cleveland. it was known that both Brandon and Hill were unhappy. The trade sends Kemp to one of deal with Milwaukee and Cleve- Brandon blocks. He playedinall 20 of the Will Keep Tag, camps open, Kemp had his trade SuperSonics made a three-way lockout by the owners Kemp became increasingly frustrated last season, both with his long-term contract paying him $3.6 million this season and his demandfulfilled when the Seattie union. That could lead to a final time. In a blockbuster deal coming only a week before NBAtraining pie — and that they'll be met with vigorous resistance from a more hard-line players Thesuspicionis they'll try — on account of escalating play- Thursdaynight owners’ share of the revenue mate of the league worsens gotiate it after next season. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Shawn Kemp's saga in Seattle came to its expected conclusion er salaries that are cutting the might not take much to upset the delicate balance that’s holding the league together. “We need to be very careful — ownersand playersalike — not to destroy something that's pretty good for everybody,” says the Jazz owner. A provision in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement with its players allows the ownersto attempt to rene- D7 SAVE $1.00 ON REG. ADULT ADMISSION eur RRRRULReURRe ee eed CreNeCee tellla SeeUUmCaCROU Mm Lateacercella Ltty Car egal TripSTORE http://www.NACorp.com 143 S$. MAIN * SALT LAKE CITY * 801 237-2018 ethic. By its simple audacity,that remark found its way out of Miller's nearly teary-eyed, 10minute tribute to the “people who have caught the vision of what this franchise is about.” Presumably, that meant Ostertag didn’t hold the Jazz out over the ledge by demanding Bryant Reeves money, which would have required about double the actual investment as well as a detailed explanation. Instead, Ostertag let the Jazz off the hook in exchange for annualplayoff runs, a future as a go-to guy and a nice place to call home. He averaged 7.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.97 blocked shots during the ‘96-97 regular season. “The bottom line,” said Oster- tag's agent, Jeff Austin, “is that Greg wantedto be here.” The rest of the Jazz roster is wrapped up for the near future, too, thanks to the offseason efforts of the Jazz executive branch General Manager Tim Howells called Ostertag “the final piece of the puzzle” after having re-signed free agents Bryon Russell, Jeff Hornacek, Antoine Carr, Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson since the team lost to the Chicago Bulls in its first trip to the NBA Finals in June. “We kepta big fo- cus on our future,” added vice president Scott Layden. TheJazz have their entire starting lineup under contract at least through 1998-99, and they'll commencethe road back to the NBA No Paymentsu Why wait until spring when prices are high! Buy now and Save Thousands of Dollars on new: Finals next week when they open training camp in Boise. Joining the Jazz veterans and draft picks at Boise State University on Oct. 3 will be Nate Green, Bryon Ruffner, Troy Hudson and Greg Travel Trailers Dreiling. The father of two young chil- dren, Ostertag has played 134 regular-season games in his twoyear pro career, averaging 5.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 Utah, BYU Win Openers ALBUQUERQUE, N.M, — Utah opened its WACvolleyball schedule with a 14-16, 15-4, 15-8, 15-7 victory over New Mexico on Thursday at ThePit. Utah (10-3, 1-0 WAC) outhit New Mexico (6-7, 0-1 WAC) .297 to .114. The Utes also outdug the Lobos, perennially one of the top defensive teamsin the nation, 63 to 57. Oo BYU EL PASO, Texas — Playing without injured co-captain Caroline Steuer, BYU defeated TexasEl Paso 15-3, 15-6, 15-0 in its WACopeneron Thursday. Veterans Amy Steele Gant, Korie Rogers and Helen Hjorth all hit better than .400 — led by Gant’s 609 - and Gant and Hjorth hadsix blocks each, BYU is 9-4 overall, 1-0 in the WAC. UTEP is 9-2 and 0-1 Oo WeberState FLAGSTAFF, Ariz, — North- ern Arizona recovered from a Game 1 loss to beat Weber State 10-15, 15-11, 15-11, 15-4 Melissa Leonard had 24 kills for the Wildcats (7-7/0-3), | hw OPY Mariah Boats Windsong / Georgetown SETURL Wildwood Trailers Look for the Mariah West display at the Dir # 4818 Winter Sports Show “E” Center Hockey Arena 3200 So. Decker Lake Dr. Enter from 3500 South just East of I-215 \f PPPPPPPPPPPEP *0.A.C. See Dealer for details ow =| |