Unlike the player he was traded for, Gordan Giricek was neither surprised nor nostalgic when he was dealt to the 76ers.

Giricek joined the team yesterday in Portland after being traded on Saturday along with a future first-round pick from the Utah Jazz for Kyle Korver.

Giricek is earning $4 million in the final year of his contract, and he also had an expiring relationship with Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan.

This season, Giricek had seen limited playing time and had an ongoing feud with the veteran coach.

"I think it's not worth any more to discuss those things," he said before yesterday's game at the Rose Garden against the Portland Trail Blazers. "It has to be water under the bridge. They did everything to help their team, and Philadelphia made their moves and we start from here."

Giricek said he wasn't surprised by the trade because he had asked for the move.

"I loved the city, but somehow I couldn't find a right spot with the team," he said. "The only thing I asked always is to be respected as a man. Not as a basketball player, just as a man. And I didn't feel that was so."

Not that Nuggets' Coach George Karl thinks the scales have been tipped in the race for the Northwest Division, but he expressed admiration for Utah's acquisition of sharpshooter Kyle Korver.

"Very disappointed," Karl said. "I was a lot of angry yesterday. A lot of cussing. They made a bad situation (possibly) be very good."

Utah traded disgruntled guard Gordan Giricek and a first-round draft pick to Philadelphia for Korver, one of the NBA's better 3-point shooters, on Saturday. Korver holds the 76ers' record for 3-pointers made in a season (226) and owns a career average of 40 percent from behind the arc.

Even though he sat out Saturday's game with a strained right biceps tendon, Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko was encouraged the injury wouldn't keep him out an extended period.

For now, Kirilenko is listed as day to day after he got tangled up with Lakers' forward Trevor Ariza in the first quarter of Friday's loss and had his arm awkwardly jerked back.

Kirilenko tried to play in the second quarter and did not return in the second half. He walked out of the locker room after the game with his arm in a sling. Although he wasn't feeling pain, Kirilenko also said he didn't have any strength in the arm, especially when he tried to raise it.

"I was trying to get back after [the injury], but like pass and like shoot, I feels like it's completely dead," Kirilenko said.

Seeking salary cap space, the Philadelphia 76ers traded Kyle Korver to the Utah Jazz for Gordan Giricek and a first-round pick.

Giricek's contract is expiring while Korver is under contract for three more years after this season.

Sixers head Ed Stefanski told the media that the pick is protected.

The first year the pick can be granted is in 2009 and there are different protections for each year.

Stefanski estimated that the Sixers will be $10 million under the salary cap next season, which would be the most room any team has.

?We felt this was a move for the plan that we have made to look to try to secure cap space in the summer,? Stefanski said via conference calls. ?The pick could be a player or a chip in a future trade.?

Thaddeus Young, Willie Green, Rodney Carney and Lou Williams will benefit with more playing time from Korver's departure.

?Kyle, even though I haven?t been personally here in his career, I?ve seen his work from afar and he is a good basketball player that you hate to lose,? Stefanski said.

Stefanski said Korver showed his high character when notified of the trade.

?He was gracious,? Stefanski said. ?He is a terrific young man.?

Utah Jazz guard Gordan Giricek has returned to the team more than a week after he and Coach Jerry Sloan got into an argument on the bench during a game, and both men are pledging to leave their disagreements in the past.

The pair told Salt Lake City-area media that they were moving forward and focusing on the future after Giricek, Sloan and General Manager Kevin O'Connor met on Thursday. None of the three men would discuss the details of the meeting.

"The most important thing for everybody who loves the Jazz should be that we took care of the things and that we're going to move forward," Giricek said. "We left everything behind us. We move forward, the way it should be, not only in this situation but in your life, right?"

"Always move forward from any situation you have, and why not? We're paid professionals, and we're grown-up people, and we're going to do everything that's possible to help the team," Giricek said.

Phil Jackson pulled even with Red Auerbach in regular-season victories, 5 1/2 seasons after tying the Celtics coach for the most NBA championships won.

Kobe Bryant had 31 points and seven assists before sitting out the fourth quarter and the Lakers beat the Jazz 123-109 Friday night, giving Jackson his 938th career win and a share of seventh place on the career list.

The Utah Jazz today sent 7-1 288 pound center Kyrylo Fesenko to their NBA Development League affiliate Utah Flash. This is the 25th overall league assignment this season, and it's the third time Fesenko will be joining the Flash this year.

While with the Jazz this season, the native of Ukraine played seven games and averaged 1.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in 9.1 minutes of action per game. His best game for the Jazz was his first-ever NBA regular season game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 30. In a 24 point win Fesenko played a season-high 17 minutes, scored six points on three of five shooting from the field and grabbed seven rebounds.

During his two stints with the Flash, Fesenko played a total of six games and posted averages of 16.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and a league-leading 2.7 blocked shots in 29.8 minutes of action. He also shot .625 from the field, good for fifth best in the D-League.

Gordan Giricek's week in limbo figures to come to an end this morning when the Jazz guard will meet with Coach Jerry Sloan and General Manager Kevin O'Connor before practice.

Giricek's agent Marc Fleisher said he expects Giricek will be reinstated and travel with the Jazz for Friday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers. "I don't know that for a fact," Fleisher said by phone. "I'm just expecting that."

The Jazz had internal talks about their options with Giricek before and after their Christmas practice. "We're meeting with Gira [this] morning," O'Connor said before Wednesday's game. "After that? Don't know."

Matt Harpring will play, but Memo Okur remains questionable for tonight's Jazz-Mavericks' game at EnergySolutions Arena.

Harpring missed the first two games of Utah's annual pre-Christmas trip last week because of gastro-intestinal illness. He returned against Orlando and Miami and plans to play against Dallas even though he has "one more test to get done" before being declared 100 percent.

Harpring isn't certain when the final test will be given - "With Christmas, we have got to wait until everybody starts working again," he said - but he has not experienced severe symptoms since passing out aboard the Jazz's flight back from Portland on Dec. 14.

"I feel good," Harpring said. "I just want to know what's going on. Then I'll be more relaxed, when we know exactly what's going on."

In all, Harpring missed three games with his latest chapter of what has become a two-year struggle.

Morris Almond of the Utah Flash today was named D-League.com Performer of the Week for games played during the week of Dec. 17.  In two games, Morris averaged 43.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals while shooting 32-of-68 (.471) from the field.  

A first-round selection in the 2007 NBA Draft (25th overall) by the Utah Jazz, Almond tied Clay Tucker?s D-League regular season record on Dec. 21 when he scored 51 points in a win over the Austin Toros.  The following night, Morris netted 36 points and nine rebounds as the Flash defeated the Bakersfield Jam for their second win of the week.

A product of Rice University, Almond, a 6-6 guard, was assigned to the Flash on Dec. 6 and leads the D-League with 32.0 points along with 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists during six games in the D-League.  Prior to his assignment, Almond appeared in four NBA games for the Jazz.  

Other top performers in the D-League last week included Colorado?s Elton Brown, who averaged 24.0 points and 12.8 rebounds in four games; Taurean Green who finished the week with Idaho averaging 23.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 12.0 assists during a two-game assignment from Portland;  Rio Grande Valley?s Gabe Muoneke who averaged 28.0 points, 9.0 rebounds in two games for the Vipers; Carlos Powell who finished the week averaging 31.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.5 assists in two wins with Dakota; and C.J. Watson who averaged 31.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.5 assists in two games with Rio Grande Valley.