It's taken 24 hours to collect my thoughts on the subject, but there is a very good reason why it's so damaging for the Jazz to be luxury-tax payers.

    For every fan who says it's the Millers' money and who cares if they have to write a $12 million check in penalties next season, I think it has long-term implications for the very notion of what it means to be a small-market team in the NBA.

    The idea behind the NBA's luxury tax system is to help level the playing field between small- and large-market teams. Were it not for the luxury tax, the Lakers and a handful of others could spend the rest of the league into oblivion.

    When the Jazz push their payroll past $70 million - - and maybe even $80 million - - it becomes much more difficult for Greg Miller to someday sit at a league meeting and advocate for more protections for small-market teams.

    Why would the owner of a big-market team make concessions in terms of revenue sharing and luxury tax when his team is being outspent by the Jazz in the first place? That might not be an issue for the Jazz this season, but it could be in future years.

    If the Jazz spend another $8 million to re-sign Paul Millsap when they're already over the tax in the first place, I think it gives ammunition to the large-market teams who ask why there even needs to be a tax when a team like the Jazz blows through it.

    Which is why I think Larry Miller was so opposed to the Jazz ever becoming luxury tax payers. Obviously, he recognized that it didn't make sense for the organization's bottom line, but it also didn't make sense philosophically for the Jazz's viability in Utah.

    * * *

    The Jazz didn't just become tax payers overnight. We've been building toward this for at least the two-plus seasons I've been on the beat. Here are five decisions the Jazz made that they might want back looking at things in hindsight:

    1. Not trading Andrei Kirilenko for Shawn Marion, September 2007

    Miller appreciated Kirilenko as much as any player he had during his years as Jazz owner other than John Stockton and Karl Malone. He also regarded the four years remaining on Kirilenko's contract as a plus, compared to only having Marion for two years. But Kirilenko's production never will match the $34 million he's due the next two seasons, making his contract a killer for the Jazz. Had they traded for Marion, the Jazz would be clear of his salary obligation.

    2. Trading Gordan Giricek for Kyle Korver, December 2007

    The acquisition of Korver has been a plus in every respect, except when it comes to contracts. Giricek had a $4 million expiring contract, while the Jazz took on more than $10 million in salary commitments to Korver between last season and this season. That money would have made re-signing C.J. Miles less painful in hindsight. Korver still was a good addition, especially after Giricek and Jerry Sloan clashed once and for all.

    3. Matching Oklahoma City's offer sheet to C.J. Miles, July 2008

    Once he got out of the hospital last summer, Miller suggested the Thunder's offer to Miles was probably a little higher than he would have gone himself in matching. The Jazz did so anyway, trying to protect the investment they'd already made in Miles. But with Kirilenko on the roster and playing the majority of the available minutes, Miles' opportunities have been decidedly limited.

    4. Exercising the third-year option in Kyrylo Fesenko's contract, June 2009

    OK, the $870,000 Fesenko is making is small potatoes in the big picture of the NBA. But it becomes $1.7 million when you have to pay the dollar-for-dollar tax penalties. The Jazz obviously felt Fesenko was good insurance in case Mehmet Okur opted out of his contract, but then they went ahead and drafted Michigan State center Goran Suton in the second round. Suton provides a cheaper alternative than Fesenko, for whom the jury is still out on his future as an NBA player.

    5. Not selling their No. 20 pick in the NBA Draft, June 2009

    It will take years to see just what kind of player Eric Maynor proves to be. But the Jazz could have made $3 million by selling the pick and saved the $1.3 million they're going to have to pay Maynor this season. With the tax penalties, that's a more than $5 million difference. If Maynor wins the job as Deron Williams' backup this season, it likely will be worth it. If not, the Jazz likely could have found a much cheaper alternative.

    * * *

    You have to wonder what's going through the mind of Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti right now. He very well could stick it to the Jazz with a contract to Paul Millsap that will haunt the Thunder's Northwest Division rival for years to come.

    Forget signing Millsap himself, the smartest move for Presti might be making the highest possible offer he knows the Jazz will match, then hoping that Millsap never develops beyond being a hustle-playing fourth option for the team.

    As much as Matt Harpring's $6.5 million salary hurts right now, the Jazz could wind up paying Millsap $8 million or $9 million a year through the 2013-14 season. Now imagine if Millsap was back to coming off the bench in those later years.

    The Thunder would have to tie up their free-agent money for seven days in an offer sheet, but it might be worth it to cripple a division rival. They could turn around and go bargain hunting after the Jazz matched their offer, still saving cap space for next summer.

    * * *

    Jazz president Randy Rigby appeared on David Locke's radio show Tuesday after Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur both opted in for the final year of their contracts.

    "We feel very good about what's in front of us," Rigby said. "When you deal with this league, you'd like all the money to always line up and be able to always be underneath that luxury tax. But you know that sometimes you're going to maybe have to go over that.

    "We're over it a lot more than what we were planning on, but when you look at the numbers and the potential - - and that's why we've always been excited about having the quality of this team together.

    "And last year was really an anomaly with the injuries that we were dealing with, and the impact as to what those injuries then had on our team, the morale, I think the overall chemistry.

    "But we think that this team has a lot to prove. And now with three players that have no opting in their future, they've basically got more to prove for themselves and really for their future.

    "So we think there's some high motivation from the players. We think there's a great talent level that when they can be all healthy and get on the floor, we think we've got a team....

    "And of course with Kevin working, things are never done. But we have great assets in place to either play together or use those to bring other key assets to making us a very competitive team this year and for the future going forward for Jazz fans."

    I will admit to being skeptical. The payoff for the Jazz was supposed to be last season, but the way things unraveled the final month - - when the team was at full strength and should have been surging - - left me questioning whether it wasn't time to make changes.

    Now the Jazz will bring back largely the same team, a group that looked ready to be put out of its misery when the Lakers series was over. I think that malaise is going to be very tough to shake. Not impossible, but anything but easy.

    --Ross Siler

   Morris Almond's Jazz career officially came to a close today. My friend Howard Beck from the New York Times tweeted earlier today that Almond is on the New York Knicks' roster for the Las Vegas summer league. The Knicks have some names on that roster with former lottery picks Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Yaroslav Korolev and Mouhamed Sene. They also have Patrick Ewing Jr., Alex Acker, Blake Ahearn and David Noel in addition to Almond, who was the Jazz's 2007 first-round draft pick. He went on to set scoring records in the NBA Development League, but never got a lot of opportunity behind Ronnie Brewer and C.J. Miles with the Jazz.

    --Ross Siler

   First things first: Nobody beat the Jazz to Paul Millsap as free agency opened Tuesday night. Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor was on the phone with Millsap's agent, DeAngelo Simmons, right at 10 p.m., which Simmons called a "class act" gesture.

    It bodes well for the Jazz as they try to retain Millsap, even as their payroll went up, up and away with Carlos Boozer's and Mehmet Okur's decision to return this season instead of opting out to become free agents.

    The Jazz's plan seems to be to bite the bullet as luxury tax payers this season - - it's inevitable at this point - - and re-sign Millsap no matter how much that bill climbs. The Jazz seem to acknowledge they can't lose Millsap and Boozer in subsequent seasons.

    Maybe it's appropriate that the Jazz own the New York Knicks' first-round draft pick next season, because their luxury-tax bill is going to be astounding. They have more than $73 million in salary commitments to only 11 players after Tuesday.

    If Millsap comes in at $8 million - - which is less than he's asking for, by the way - - that brings the Jazz to $81 million in payroll. They still would need to sign one more player, presumably a third point guard. So that could be another $1 million.

    (I left a message for Ronnie Price's agent, Mike Higgins, just to see if the Jazz had called Tuesday night. Higgins had some interesting comments the other day that probably got lost in the opt-out madness.)

    The Jazz would be looking at $82-plus million in salary commitments. The NBA's luxury-tax threshold is expected to be set at $70 million. So the Jazz would have to pay $12 million in dollar-for-dollar penalties, plus would lose $3 million in distribution payments.

    My guess is the Jazz will do everything they can to minimize the tax hit going forward. Every dollar they can cut is really more like two dollars because of that dollar-for-dollar penalty.

    Maybe they trade Kyrylo Fesenko for a second-round draft pick and keep Goran Suton. There was talk earlier this summer that C.J. Miles might be a prime candidate for a buyout given the Jazz's luxury-tax crunch.

    The Jazz ruled out the possibility back then, but maybe they revisit it now. The market for Miles is different than for the Boozers and Okurs of the NBA since he would be looking for a part of the midlevel exception.

    The most likely scenario is that the Jazz trade Boozer - - to avoid a lame-duck season before free agency - - and take back the lowest-end salaries possible. Even that would be more than $10 million.

    We covered this scenario last night in the blog, but a team also could throw in another $3 million in cash, though it doesn't count into the matching salary computations. But that might ease the Jazz's fiscal pain a little bit.

    It's still stunning to me, thinking back to Larry Miller's declaration about never being tax payers after he got out of the hospital last year, that the Jazz are facing the possibility of being so deep into the tax this season.

    * * *

    Some things to watch going forward: It will be interesting to see if the Jazz are inclined to make a long-term commitment to any of the three players - - Boozer, Okur and Kyle Korver - - who opted in this week.

    It also will be interesting to see if the Jazz make any attempt to mend fences with Boozer. I can't find it any more, but ESPN's Ric Bucher cited the need for a supportive coach/owner/GM in his profile on Boozer as (formerly) one of the top 20 free agents.

    That's clearly directed at the Jazz, I assume after Greg Miller's comments criticizing Boozer's leadership and defense.

    All of a sudden, the Jazz have the potential to get in on the bidding for free agents in 2010. They have $34 million in expiring contracts, which could be attractive to teams trying to clear cap space to sign free agents from that class.

    Or the Jazz could simply let those contracts expire, avoid making any additional commitments beyond this season (sorry, Paul, Kyle, Memo and Carlos) and they would be left with at least $10 million in cap space next summer.

    That's taking into account five players - - Williams, Kirilenko, Miles, Koufos and Maynor - - plus a $3.5 million approximation for the Knicks pick, plus six minimum cap holds. If the cap rose to $60 million, the Jazz could have $15 million in cap space.

    * * *

    Some of you saw this in your morning paper, some of you got the midnight report on Millsap at the start of free agency. Here's your summer-league-roster-announced story:

    With the Rocky Mountain Revue an economic casualty, the Jazz will report Wednesday to Orlando, Fla., for the start of summer-league practice, only six days after the draft and weeks earlier than in the past.

    The Jazz announced their roster Tuesday with few surprises as Eric Maynor, Kosta Koufos and Goran Suton were included while Kyrylo Fesenko was not. As expected, Fesenko will play exclusively with the Ukrainian national team this summer.

    Maynor and Suton will be making their debuts as the Jazz's newest draft picks while Koufos will be looking to build on his rookie season. He averaged 4.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in 48 games but didn't see action after Feb. 17.

    The rest of the Jazz's roster includes two members of the NBA Development League's Utah Flash - - guards Kevin Kruger and Andre Ingram - - as well as center James Augustine, a former teammate of Deron Williams' at Illinois.

    Augustine is one of three players on the roster to have played with another NBA team, having played in parts of two seasons with Orlando before spending last season in Spain.

    Forward Justin Reed split three seasons with Boston and Minnesota before spending last season with Bakersfield of the D-League. Guard Cedric Bozeman appeared in 23 games with Atlanta in 2006-07 and was with Anaheim in the D-League last season.

    Former Utah State center Gary Wilkinson will play for the Jazz, as will Derrick Brown, a second-round draft pick of the Charlotte Bobcats, who are not fielding a summer-league team of their own as a cost-cutting measure.

    The Jazz will play five games in five days next week at the RDV Sportsplex, beginning Monday against Boston. They also will play a joint New Jersey/Philadelphia entry, Indiana, Orlando and Oklahoma City.

    --Ross Siler

   The Jazz are caught between a rock and a hard place on the final day before free agency. Of course, so is Carlos Boozer, or so it appears.

    With Kyle Korver opting in for the upcoming season Monday, the Jazz are in danger of seeing their payroll skyrocket should Boozer opt in as well Tuesday, citing the slim possibilities out there as a free agent looking for an eight-figure annual deal.

    The Jazz have approximately $51.9 million in salary committed to nine players for next season after Korver's decision. There's no official number, by the way, since we don't yet know what salary will be set for the first year of Deron Williams' max contract.

    Should Boozer opt in at $12.7 million, the Jazz's payroll would climb to $64.6 million. That's for just 10 players, not counting Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap. Remember you have to carry at least 13 players according to NBA rules.

    The Jazz's nightmare scenario would be having Boozer opt in with another team swooping in to make a significant offer to Millsap. A $9 million offer to Millsap next season would cost the Jazz more like $16 million in salary and luxury-tax penalties.

    That would leave the Jazz in a position where they would have Boozer under contract for only one season - - eyeing free agency in 2010 - - while Millsap would sign long-term with another team and leave.

    By next summer, the Jazz could be without either of the two power forwards who made this whole situation so complicated in the first place.

    I don't know what the answer is from the Jazz's perspective. Maybe they make their peace with Boozer, sign him to a long-term contract and cross their fingers that Millsap ends up more of a hustle player than an All-Star for his career.

    They might be able to minimize the luxury-tax hit that way while re-signing Okur and keeping the nucleus of their Western Conference finals team together.

    Maybe the Jazz promise they'll do whatever they can to facilitate a sign-and-trade should Boozer opt out, just as long as they only take back the low end in salaries. They also could take back up to $3 million in cash from a team.

    For example, Boozer could reach agreement on a sign-and-trade with another team, with a starting salary of $13 million. The Jazz would have to take back at least $10.32 million in salaries, but they also could get up to $3 million in cash.

    Again, the goal would be minimizing the tax hit and overall financial pain while re-signing Okur and keeping Millsap.

    Or maybe Boozer will opt out as we've been led to believe all along and the Jazz will be left with $18 million for Okur, Millsap and that No. 3 point guard. There are definitely those who still believe that's what will happen Tuesday.

    As for that extension with Okur, remember that such a deal still would leave Okur playing for $9 million this season and a maximum of $9.945 million in the 2010-11 season. That has to be considered below-market money for one of the 10 best centers in the NBA.

    Nevertheless, Okur's extension could add as much as four years at $45.5 million to his existing contract. He too has the Jazz in a tough spot considering the team has only Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko as fallback options at center should Okur opt out.

    * * *

    Okur's agent, Marc Fleisher, sent a short e-mail Monday night saying nothing had been finalized yet, but Okur still was likely to opt out....A couple of items that I couldn't squeeze into Tuesday's paper: Kyrylo Fesenko won't be joining the Jazz for summer league in Orlando, Fla. The Jazz always had held the door open a crack that Fesenko might make it. He'll play for the Ukrainian national team, which I'm told has a pretty ambitious schedule of two-a-days....The Jazz will share their D-League affiliate Utah Flash with Atlanta this season. Boston had been a Flash affiliate for two seasons but will switch to a Portland, Maine, team.

    --Ross Siler

   As much attention as Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap are getting - - and rightfully so - - the Jazz have four other players from last season's roster who will be free agents when the market opens late Tuesday.

    They would be Ronnie Price, Jarron Collins, Brevin Knight and Morris Almond.

    With Jazz coach Jerry Sloan talking about a point guard rotation of Deron Williams, Eric Maynor and Price after Thursday's draft, Price is expected to be re-signed while Knight is not. Price made $1.188 milliI on last season.

    Almond's fate was sealed at the end of October, when the Jazz declined to exercise an option to bring him back for a third season. It will be interesting to see with which team Almond decides to play summer league, assuming he does.

    Which brings us to Collins, who is left to wonder if he will be returning for a ninth season with the Jazz. The team already has exercised an option to bring back Kyrylo Fesenko next season and drafted Michigan State center Goran Suton in the second round.

    Collins played in only 26 games last season, but did start in the playoffs when Okur was out with a hamstring injury. He long has been a favorite of coach Jerry Sloan for being ready when called upon and his willingness to do all the little things.

    Talking to him on Sunday, Collins has been working out in Los Angeles. The elbow injury he suffered last summer has healed and he's playing in games and lifting weights daily, waiting to learn where he'll be headed this season.

    "I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Utah Jazz as an organization," Collins said, "and all my teammates and all the fans that have been so great to me.

    "Of course, I'd love to be back, but with Paul Millsap and potentially other players out there that there are decisions to be made about, I'm just waiting to see what happens.

    "I just have to be patient and see what opportunities are out there for me."

    --Ross Siler

   We're in a holding pattern for these next two days waiting for Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver to make their opt-out decisions official. Not make the decisions - - as that's likely happened in all three cases - - but give the Jazz official notification.

    After weeks of reporting on the subject, I'm drawing the conclusion that Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur will opt out and Kyle Korver will not. Maybe something changes, but I'd be surprised if the scorecard didn't read as such Tuesday.

    Boozer already announced his intentions back in December, but the question is whether he will in fact follow through. He wants the security of a long-term contract, believes he's a franchise player and expects to be the marquee free agent on the market.

    If he doesn't opt out, Boozer would run the risk of being traded as an expiring contract, with no say in where he would end up. That could be potentially devastating heading into the 2010 free-agent market.

    By opting out, Boozer also would set himself up to return to free agency after the 2013-14 season, assuming he would sign a five-year contract. That's a long ways off, but Boozer only would be 32 that summer and in line for possibly one more big contract.

    The Jazz seemingly have been lukewarm about Boozer's potential return since the end of the season. He would be opting out of $12.7 million for this season, but I believe Boozer will find what he's looking for on the free-agent market.

    The question is whether the Jazz feel the need to get something in return for Boozer, whether Paul Millsap really can fill the void left by Boozer and whether letting go of a two-time All-Star in what should be the prime of his career serves the Jazz well.

    While Boozer's decision isn't expected until Tuesday, Okur is likely to opt out as soon as Monday. He's in a low-risk situation even walking away from $9 million as he could command that salary playing for a team in Turkey or elsewhere in Europe.

    Okur's preference is to stay in the NBA. By opting out, he would be raising the stakes for the Jazz as they try to re-sign him. The Jazz are said to have been cautious in making commitments to one player that could affect their other situations.

    Korver's been quiet about his decision, but it's believed that he's going to opt in. He's unlikely to match his $5.2 million salary on the free-agent market, wants to stay in Utah and could revisit extension talks later this summer.

    * * *

    Under the above scenario, the Jazz would head into free agency with nine players under contract - - Andrei Kirilenko, Deron Williams, Matt Harpring, Korver, C.J. Miles, Ronnie Brewer, Eric Maynor, Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko - - and a payroll of $51.9 million.

    That would leave the Jazz about $18 million below the luxury-tax threshold as they make decisions about re-signing Boozer, Okur and/or Millsap as well as explore the possibility/necessity of adding a free agent with their midlevel exception ($5.5 million).

    * * *

    Talking to people Sunday, the list of potential suitors for Millsap is expected to possibly include Oklahoma City, Detroit and Portland. The Thunder are believed to be looking for a bruiser - - Anderson Varejao is another name - - and will have $11 million or so in cap space to sign a player. They are expected to spend this summer.

    * * *

    Thought this quote from Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor was a pretty good appraisal of the impact the economy is having on teams around the league.

    "I think teams are going in different directions," O'Connor said. "Either teams are really saying, 'We've got to rebuild,' or teams are saying, 'We're going to try and get to the top.' I don't see any teams staying status quo."

    --Ross Siler

   Let the fun begin Jazz fans. ESPN.com's Chad Ford has his first list out prospect rankings for the 2010 draft out this afternoon. While there's no way of knowing just what the Jazz will get from the pick they're owed from the Knicks, Ford's top 10 prospects are as follows: 1. John Wall, Kentucky, PG; 2. Ed Davis, North Carolina, PF; 3. Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech, PF; 4. Greg Monroe, Georgetown, PF; 5. Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest, SF; 6. Willie Warren, Oklahoma, PG; 7. Cole Aldrich, Kansas, C; 8. John Henson, North Carolina, PF; 9. Donatas Motiejunas, Lithuania, PF; 10. Solomon Alabi, Florida State, C.

    --Ross Siler

   No matter what you think of the pick - - and whether it wasn't worth $3 million to sell it - - the Jazz were happy to draft Eric Maynor at No. 20 Thursday. Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said the team had scouted Maynor in person six times last season.

    Whether Maynor can beat out Ronnie Price for the backup point guard job or whether Maynor will get the chance to play off guard alongside Williams - - as he suggested to reporters - - remains to be seen.

    Maynor helped lead Virginia Commonwealth twice to the NCAA Tournament and hit the winning shot to beat Duke in the first round his sophomore year, yet O'Connor said that performance was not what defined him as a college player.

    "The fact that he consistently performed on his stage and dominated [the CAA]," O'Connor said. "Now, you say, 'Well, he didn't play against so-and-so. Well, they played against Vanderbilt and they played against George Mason, [which] was a pretty good team a few years ago and had a lot of those guys back.

    "I think the fact that he was successful and consistently successful and his team won, I think is the key issue."

    It also didn't hurt that Maynor made the effort to get to Utah for an interview the day of the draft, even if he couldn't work out. The Jazz put more stock in the interviews than they do in the workouts, from what we've been told.

    Don't know if the Jazz would've taken Wake Forest's Jeff Teague had Atlanta not nabbed him at No. 19. They obviously liked Maynor more than Pittsburgh forwards Sam Young and DeJuan Blair, both of whom came to Utah for workouts.

    Young ended up going to Memphis at No. 36 while Blair went a pick later to San Antonio. There were apparently too many questions about the room for growth in Young's game as a 24-year-old rookie and about the miles left in Blair's knees.

    The Jazz will introduce both Maynor and second-round draft pick Goran Suton at a news conference this afternoon. For Maynor, it will be his second trip to Utah in three days.

    * * *

    Although VCU twice played in the NCAA Tournament, the game that defines Maynor might have been the 2007 CAA Tournament championship game, when Maynor led the Rams back to beat a George Mason team that had gone to the Final Four the year before.

    Here's the first paragraphs from the game story filed by The Washington Post's Steven Goff:

    RICHMOND, March 5 -- George Mason's improbable run through the Colonial Athletic Association tournament came to a devastating end Monday night when, after leading by five points with about two minutes remaining in the championship game, the Patriots were overwhelmed by the pressure of both the moment and Virginia Commonwealth's defense.

    The top-seeded Rams scored 11 consecutive points, nine by sophomore point guard Eric Maynor, and dashed to a 65-59 victory before a delirious sellout crowd of 11,200 at Richmond Coliseum.

    The No. 6 Patriots -- who had lost to VCU by 13 and 14 points during the regular season -- were seeking to become the lowest seed to claim the title since East Carolina, a No. 7 seed, won 14 years ago. They had upset No. 3 Hofstra and No. 2 Old Dominion the previous two nights, but fell short in excruciating fashion against the CAA's best team.

    George Mason (18-15) had a 57-52 lead and possession with two minutes remaining, when it all fell apart in a flurry of steals by Maynor, misses by the Patriots and free throws by the Rams (27-6).

    "We knew that their pressure would bother us to a certain extent, but for about 36 minutes, we still were in control of the game and then Eric Maynor stepped up and made huge defensive plays," Mason Coach Jim Larranaga said. "Big-time players make big-time plays, and Eric Maynor proved tonight he's a big-time player."

    The comeback began when Maynor, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard enduring a poor shooting night, stole the ball from Dre Smith with the Patriots in transition, converted a layup and was fouled. After making the free throw to cut the deficit to two, Maynor took the ball from Gabe Norwood in the back court and laid it in with 1 minute 44 seconds remaining.

    Mason's Folarin Campbell missed a three-pointer, and Maynor followed with a leaner in the lane with 45 seconds to go. Campbell had a shot blocked, Smith missed a three-pointer and the Rams made six straight free throws down the stretch to earn their second NCAA tournament berth in four years.

    "I made a couple of big plays, and we took it from there," said Maynor, who finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals and was named the tournament's most valuable player. "I felt like somebody had to make a play and when I made it, it was a relief."

    Said first-year Rams coach Anthony Grant: "Obviously, Eric Maynor is special. Down the stretch, just his ability to take over a game like that and basically just will us to the victory with what he was able to do . . . our guys were going to find a way to win the game."

    * * *

    According to basketball-reference.com, Maynor will become only the fourth Virginia Commonwealth product ever to play in the NBA. The previous three were Jesse Dark, Bernie Harris and Gerald Henderson. Dark and Harris played in a combined 58 games, but Henderson enjoyed a 13-year career, playing for seven teams. Henderson's son joined Maynor in also being a first-round pick Thursday.

    * * *

    Just from talking to people, it seems as if Kevin O'Connor and vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin were pushing the case for drafting Maynor while Jerry Sloan and his coaches did the same for Suton, who apparently made a case for himself with his workout in Utah.

    --Ross Siler

   Carlos Boozer's opt-out decision got a lot more complicated with the reports that New Jersey has traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to Orlando for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee.

    The Nets, if you remember, were one of two teams along with Detroit mentioned as a possible destination for Boozer, who faces a Tuesday deadline to decide about opting out of his contract to become a free agent.

    The only way Boozer could end up in New Jersey is through a sign-and-trade. The most likely scenarios involved a package built around Carter's contract or Bobby Simmons' contract.

    If Carter is on his way to Orlando, that leaves Simmons as the likely sign-and-trade pairing. You'd have to imagine that the Jazz wouldn't have much interest in such a deal.

    On the heels of the Richard Jefferson and Shaquille O'Neal trades, Orlando made an impressive move of their own in landing Carter. He's a Daytona Beach, Fla., product, so he'll be going home to play for the Magic and probably will be rejuvenated on a contender.

    --Ross Siler

   ESPN.com's Chad Ford has his latest mock draft out this morning. And in a twist, Ford is now assigning a confidence level to each of his projected picks. He still has Tyler Hansbrough falling to the Jazz at No. 20 and gives it an 85 percent probability that he will be their pick. That's a higher probability than every other first round pick in Ford's mock draft except Blake Griffin going No. 1 overall to the Clippers. Even Hasheem Thabeet at No. 2 to Memphis has only a 75 percent chance of happening in Ford's view. I don't disagree that Hansbrough's the favorite if he's available, but I think you have to wonder if four teams that have supposed interest in him all will take a pass from picks Nos. 11 to 19.

    --Ross Siler

   Instant reaction to Wednesday's late-night blockbuster trade sending Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland:

    1. No matter what happens the rest of the summer for the Jazz, it can't hurt that the Suns just traded O'Neal for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, essentially a salary-saving move. Keep in mind that Phoenix finished ninth in the Western Conference and only two games behind the eighth-place Jazz. The Suns were a whopping 17 games ahead of 10th place Golden State at 29-53. Except for maybe Oklahoma City, I don't see any of the bottom six teams in the West making the leap to contender status next season, and the Suns just weakened their team by trading O'Neal. Even if the Jazz go through a major overhaul, their chances of making the playoffs are still excellent.

    2. I'm pretty sure there's not going to be a Lakers/Magic rematch on Christmas this year. I'm guessing the first thing the NBA does this morning is call ABC and schedule Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and O'Neal for Dec. 25. The only question is whether you want that game in Los Angeles or Cleveland. David Stern probably would order up a Lakers/Cavaliers Finals today if he could. Instead, he'll have to settle for the league's annual Christmas showcase.

    3. How much does it affect O'Neal's legacy as one of the all-time greats that he's now heading to his fifth team. O'Neal started his career with Orlando, signed as a free agent with the Lakers, was traded to Miami, then traded to Phoenix and now traded to Cleveland. How incredible is it that O'Neal was traded for Wallace and Pavlovic. That makes the O'Neal trade for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant seem like a haul by comparison.

    --Ross Siler

   Back when I covered the Lakers, I remember having to attend the Clippers' workouts just to talk to prospects the Lakers had brought in. Not only didn't the Lakers open workouts to reporters, they wouldn't even publicly announce the players they had worked out.

    I give the Jazz much credit for the way they handle workouts. They've held five sessions of workouts in the last week-and-a-half and we've gotten to talk with everyone from Tyler Hansbrough to DeJuan Blair to Jeff Teague in that time.

    Believe it or not, you actually can get some feel for guys in that short amount of time. Morris Almond came across instantly as the Jazz's likely choice in 2007. So did Roy Hibbert last year, although Hibbert went to Indiana before the Jazz's pick.

    It's also fun years later, as we travel around covering the NBA, to watch somebody like Marreese Speights in Philadelphia and remember how surprised he was upon arriving in Utah to see that there was an actual city and not just a herd of cows.

    As best as I can tell, the pool of players in which the Jazz will be most interested Thursday with their No. 20 pick starts with Hansbrough, Pittsburgh's Sam Young, Blair and Teague. All four worked out in Utah, so that's no surprise.

    The Jazz also probably will consider Wake Forest's James Johnson, Virginia Commonwealth's Eric Maynor, Florida State's Toney Douglas, UCLA's Darren Collison and North Carolina's Ty Lawson.

    I think the Jazz also have interest in Kentucky's Jodie Meeks, but No. 20 probably is too high for Meeks. Walt Perrin, the Jazz's vice president of player personnel, was in attendance for Meeks' 54-point game at Tennessee in January and came away a fan.

    Kevin O'Connor spoke Wednesday about having the conviction to take the best player on the board, regardless of whether everyone considers that player a later pick and regardless of what the next day's draft grade might be on ESPN or in the paper.

    The Jazz will not look to sell the pick, despite the uncertainty in this year's draft, but I think they would be willing to swap it for a first-round pick in next year's draft, which already is considered deeper.

    Although they have the Knicks' first-round pick, the Jazz would have to give up their own pick to Philadelphia to complete the Kyle Korver trade, provided that the pick is not in the lottery. Having two picks next year would position the Jazz nicely.

    We'll see if Hansbrough is selected before the 20th pick and if the Jazz decide it's worth using their first-round pick on a point guard with Deron Williams already on the roster. Those are the big questions heading into the draft.

    * * *

    Utah Valley's Ryan Toolson probably isn't going to get drafted, especially considering he's not even listed in the NBA's official draft media guide. But Toolson didn't just shoot lights out in his workout Tuesday with the Jazz, he barely missed a shot at all.

    Toolson apparently went 10-for-10 at several of the shooting stations during drills, leading to some double-takes on the part of his workout partners. Toolson also impressed the Jazz with his confidence, saying he was trying to be more than just a ''dime a dozen'' skinny white guy.

    If nothing else, Toolson will be fun to follow during the summer-league season.

    * * *

    Another interesting day in the NBA from the perspective of the Jazz's off-season. The Warriors are reported to be close to trading Jamal Crawford to Atlanta for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton.

    Such a deal would take Crawford out of the running when we consider potential trade scenarios involving Andrei Kirilenko. Golden State coach Don Nelson reportedly had told Crawford he would be traded if he didn't opt out of his contract.

    ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported that the Grizzlies were expected to trade Darko Milicic to New York for Quentin Richardson. That could be the first indication that the Knicks intended to do more next season than wait for cap space to make their LeBron James pitch.

    For obvious reasons, the Jazz are interested in New York having as dismal a season as possible. Yahoo.com's Adrian Wojnarowski also reported that the Knicks are planning to court Jason Kidd when free agency opens next week.

    --Ross Siler