Let's start here by acknowledging that the Jazz are a good team. But they are a good team in a murky pool, lost among good teams that should make the playoffs but that are not good enough for serious title contention.

They exist in the land of good, which is better than bad, but a long way from great.

With that in mind, and for their own good, then, Carlos Boozer should be sent packing before the trade deadline, and the reasons run from the financial to the chemical to the statistical to the competitive.

After Boozer's strong performance against the Spurs on Wednesday, Kevin O'Connor should be burning up the phones, peddling Boozer like a maniac while Boozer's still hot and healthy. He's gone after this season, regardless, so why wait?

Don't get suckered by the Jazz's sweep of the Spurs.

It's just as easy to remember the losses to the Nuggets.

Keeping Boozer costs the Jazz too much cake, especially with the club barreling toward the luxury tax, a double dose of fiscal penalties considering not just the money paid out but also the lost revenue given back to teams who show payroll restraint.

But the trade-Boozer-don't-trade-Boozer debate is bigger than just the rather dispassionate matter of spending/saving rich men's money.

It can be argued, on multiple levels, that Boozer not only doesn't make the Jazz appreciably better but sometimes makes them worse.

Some of that cuts to team chemistry. Boozer is not close to his teammates, although he has tried harder this season to take less of an egocentric, corporate stance. Still, the players know what's going on. They know the power forward is bearing down, auditioning for other opportunities. They understand the game's business side.

But they also know it takes more than that to consistently build the kind of competitive trust necessary to become a real playoff contender. They are fully aware Boozer is a short-timer, gone to get his reward after this season.

Regardless of the success in San Antonio, they too often don't play with the same cohesion, the same proficiency when he's on the court.

Compare the statistical averages of four players -- Paul Millsap, Mehmet Okur, Ronnie Brewer, Andrei Kirilenko -- from last season, when Boozer played in limited games, to this season, when Boozer has played in every game.

All of them are off last year's pace.

Okur scores 4.5 points less than he did a season ago and is getting one less rebound. Kirilenko is off a fraction of a point. Millsap is a minus-3.5 points and minus-2.7 on the boards. And Brewer is 3.7 points in the hole. Wesley Matthews has taken some of those points, but he's also made up the difference for a mostly absent Kyle Korver.

Meanwhile, Boozer's average points are up from 16.2 to about 19.

The net loss in that exchange is more than nine points per game.

Is that completely Boozer's fault?

There may be other explanations for the net loss, but the chemistry issues combined with the statistical discrepancies, and the fact that the Jazz are in a fistfight just to qualify for the playoffs, make a compelling case that something isn't right with this mix.

Earlier this week, Boozer said he believes the Jazz shouldn't trade him. He said if the club is just about winning, that should be the deciding factor.

The argument remains, though, that the Jazz might be just as good without Boozer. The best stretch they had last season came when Boozer was injured. And when he returned in the final weeks, the team crumbled, losing to opponents it should have beaten, and losing to an opponent in the playoffs it had no chance of beating.

Boozer is a fine talent. That's not the discussion here. The discussion is his day-to-day usefulness on this specific team, at this specific time, with these specific players -- players who need leadership Boozer cannot provide because of his compromised circumstance.

He still is Carlos Boozer Inc.

He wants to stay through season's end for good reason: It's all working out for him. He's avoided injury, he's comfortable in the system, he's putting up solid numbers, he's positioning himself for his top priority -- a handsome free-agent deal.

But the Jazz largely have played beneath themselves. They can play better. And they can play better without Boozer, in a whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts kind of way, just like they did before he returned last year.

If they got a bit of defensive help in return for Boozer, who could complain?

Certainly not Millsap, who's now collecting $10 million to fill in as a role player. His numbers as a starter last season indicate he is ready to step up. And if he isn't, why, then, did the Jazz offer him that huge contract?

There is, indeed, a pertinent question to ask here.

But it isn't, Should the Jazz trade Boozer?

It is, Why haven't they already pulled the trigger?

GORDON MONSON hosts the "Monson and Graham Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com.