SALT LAKE CITY — Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor will leave his post as GM and assume a new position as the franchise’s top executive, Yahoo! Sports reported Monday.
O’Connor is overseeing a search for his replacement, the report said.
Already the team’s vice president of basketball operations, O’Connor, 63, reportedly will take his focus away from the day-to-day decision making while still maintaining executive responsibilities.
In 13 years with the Jazz, O’Connor has seen the team go from the Stockton-to-Malone era to the current young mix of budding starts like Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors.
O’Connor helped guide the franchise through the turmoil of February 2011 when the Jazz traded frustrated point guard Deron Williams just days after he and Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan had a halftime confrontation.
Sloan resigned on Feb. 10; O’Connor traded Williams to the New Jersey Nets for Favors, Devin Harris and a first-round draft pick on Feb. 24.
Williams had given the Jazz no indication he planed to signed a contract extension and with the 2011 NBA lockout looming, O’Connor felt it was time to trade the All-Star while the Jazz could still get something for him.
Since then, the roster has changed dramatically, including the additions of Enes Kanter and Alec Burks, whom O’Connor drafted with the Nos. 3 and 12 picks in the 2011 draft.
O’Connor added point guard Mo Williams, small forward Marvin Williams and combo guard Randy Foye this summer.
San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey has emerged as the leading candidate to replace O’Connor, the Yahoo! Sports report said.
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