(AFP) - Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan ended his dysfunctional National Basketball Association relationship with guard Gordan Giricek on Saturday, trading the Croatian to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers sent guard Kyle Korver to the Jazz in exchange for Giricek and a first-round draft pick just 10 days after Sloan sent home Giricek from a road trip after they argued during a game at Charlotte.
Giricek , whose four million-dollar contract expires after the season, had sought a trade and was struggling this year for the Jazz with a career-low 4.3 points in limited playing time amid tense and terse relations with Sloan.
"We made a trade which we feel improves our team this year," Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said.
During a second quarter timeout on December 19 at Charlotte, Sloan and Giricek began arguing and the coach eventually sent Giricek to the locker room and later back to Utah.
Giricek claimed he did nothing wrong. Sloan, Utah's coach for the past 20 years, had no comment.
The Croatian missed three games before returning to the Jazz lineup Friday without playing in a 123-109 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sloan said after the loss he planned to work Giricek back into the rotation but instead he worked a deal to send him away.
"We are excited about acquiring a player of Gordan's ability as well as an additional asset in the form of a first-round draft pick," said 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski said.
In 350 games over six NBA seasons with Orlando and Memphis as well as Utah, Giricek has averaged 9.8 points and 2.5 rebounds.
Korver , 26, has averaged 10 points and 2.9 rebounds in 25 games for the 76ers this season. In a five-season career spent entirely with Philadelphia, Korver has averaged 10.5 points and 3.2 rebounds a game.
But this season, Korver is hitting a career-low 35.2 percent from 3-point range. He is a career 41-percent shooter from beyond the arc.