I am reminded of the story in World War 2, involving a cargo plane flying over the Hump in Asia. The Hump is the minor mountain range that contains Mount Everest, K2, and a few other bumps on the map. Anyway, as the story goes, they’re transporting a very important enemy officer who has all sorts of codes and knowledge in his pointed noggin that might turn the tide in the war. First, an engine develops problems, and they have to feather the throttle back. Then, the other engine has a smoke trail billowing out the back.

The pilot and the crew chief look at each other, look at the mountains rapidly coming closer to them, and start throwing everything not tied down out the hatch. Guns, pinups of Hollywood stars, the booze intended for the General at the end of the flight….Everything. The mountains seemingly rise closer to the plane. They look at each other, and without a word, throw the hogtied enemy spy out the plane. For a while his screams rise above the sounds of the wind rushing by the hatch. Then all is quiet, the plane rises a bit, and then the engines catch and roar back into robust function.

Oops.

By now you’ve probably got a good idea what I’m getting at, and no, it wasn’t the spy who was important. He got what he deserved, and it might have hurt the war effort a little, but it was that case of……Booz.

Something tells me that the General won’t want to listen to excuses when he sees a plane roar down from the sky with no apparent engine trouble, and wonders what happened to his case of……Booz.

While there are some smoke trails and engine problems with the Jazz, the plane isn’t close to crashing, far from it. And I’m not advocating keeping that case of…..Booz….around. I think we need to trade him.

But regardless, if we match Paul Millsap or not, the important concept here is that the Jazz need to get as much out of Carlos Boozer as possible, just like those two hapless airmen want that case of……Booz…..back. As it is, they’re doing latrine duty for the course of the war, and will probably never see the inside of a plane again.

If Kevin O’Connor gets nothing but cap space to avoid the luxury tax, yes, the plane has landed. But at what cost? Latrine duty is probably only a little less noxious than being stuck in the City of Utah for the average NBA playa, who thinks of perks as being attached to a long set of great legs and wearing not much else, while sipping a beverage whose vapors could run an airplane engine.

But I don’t care how much they suffer, the Jazz absolutely need to get some value out of Carlos Boozer other than his screams as he approaches the ground at a buck twenty. Gee, that doesn’t sound too bad.

A Tyrus Thomas, a first round draft pick, some cap space, and I’m a happy camper. Throw in two young, improving players and I’m really happy, the same as when it turns out our two airmen missed a case of….Booz.

If you throw that case of…..Booz, out the hatch, it’s hard to get it back.

Be patient, watch those engines, feather the throttles a little, and the plane could roar back into life.

I’m checking the NBA reports almost hourly, and the suspense is killing me. I want something to happen, I want to hear we’ve traded Boozer for someone really good, I want to hear some positive news from the Jazz.

But it struck me a short while ago that the only really bad thing that could happen right now, was to hear that the Jazz had rushed into a frantic deal composed because they panicked at the thought of losing all that money. There are worse things than losing money for a short time in the NBA. It’s about the health of the franchise, it’s about giving the fans hope, it’s about ticket sales and high expectations for the season. When the fans know that their team is trying it’s best to field the best possible product, then they’ll spend their sheckles.

We won't even talk about the Portland Blazers. Just don't get on a plane with me, Mr. Kevin Prickett. Oh, by the way, Mr. Allen? I use Mozilla.