Jazz acquiring Wolves' Jefferson
The Utah Jazz are acquiring forward Al Jefferson(notes) from the Minnesota Timberwolves, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.
The source said the trade will be completed sometime Tuesday. The Jazz will take on Jefferson by using the trade exception they obtained in their sign-and-trade deal that sent Carlos Boozer(notes) to the Chicago Bulls.
The Jazz also expect to send the T'wolves a protected first-round pick they acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies last season in the Ronnie Brewer trade and another future first-round pick. More than anything, the T'wolves are making the deal to get off the remaining three years and $42 million on Jefferson's contract. They have been looking to trade Jefferson for some time after deciding to build around forward Kevin Love.
Free-agent point guard Luke Ridnour also is close to agreeing on a four-year, $16 million contract with the T'wolves. Minnesota has been trying to trade point guard Ramon Sessions, who it signed to a four-year, $16 million deal a year ago.
Jazz owner Greg Miller hinted at the trade on his Twitter account Monday night. "I just approved a Jazz roster move that I'm very excited about," Miller tweeted. "Planning to share details tomorrow."
Jefferson, 25, averaged 17.1 points and 9.3 rebounds last season, but struggled at times while recovering from knee surgery.
Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski contributed to this report.
