Wednesday report
Here's a pretty good trivia question on this Wednesday afternoon: Name the 10 players in franchise history to have played eight or more seasons with the Jazz.
Karl Malone and John Stockton are givens. Thurl Bailey, Mark Eaton, Rickey Green, Darrell Griffith, Greg Ostertag and Bryon Russell also enjoy the distinction among retired players. Andrei Kirilenko is set to return for his ninth season in Utah.
That leaves one name: Did you guess Jarron Collins, with career averages of 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in eight seasons all spent with the Jazz?
With a little more than two weeks, though, before the start of training camp, Collins' future with the Jazz is uncertain. The free-agent center wrote in an e-mail that he hoped Utah "remains in the picture, but I just don't know yet."
In the meantime, Collins is exploring options elsewhere. He's in Cleveland this week working out and playing with the Cavaliers and is planning to do the same next week in Portland with the Trail Blazers.
The Cavaliers have an open roster spot and are expected to carry the maximum 15 players while the Trail Blazers have 13 players under contract after signing second-round draft pick Jeff Pendergraph this week.
Portland reportedly was set to audition Juwan Howard and Stromile Swift this week and is planning to sign at least one additional player before the start of camp.
The Jazz's situation is complicated by the fact that they have 13 players already under contract, including a pair of young centers in Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko, and a projected $82 million payroll pushing them deep into luxury tax territory.
Their second-round draft pick, Michigan State center Goran Suton, will be coming to camp on a non-guaranteed qualifying offer in the hopes of making the team.
Although his twin brother, Jason, signed earlier this month with Atlanta, Collins remains unsigned for now, despite long having been a favorite of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. Collins even started playoff games last spring while Mehmet Okur was injured.
Given the annual roster turnover in the NBA, it will be the end of an era in some respects if Collins doesn't return to Utah and Matt Harpring (seven seasons with the Jazz) calls it a career in the coming weeks.
* * *
Koufos totaled four points and a team-high eight rebounds Wednesday in his most extensive action so far of the European championships. Koufos played 20 minutes and also had three steals, two blocks and three turnovers as Greece beat Israel 106-80 to finish 3-0 in the first stage of pool play.
Turkey and France were the only other teams to open the tournament 3-0. Greece next will play Germany on Friday, followed by games against Russia and France in the second stage of pool play. The top four teams from each of the two remaining six-team groups will advance to the quarterfinals.
Through three games, Koufos is averaging 6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 14 minutes. Although he has starred for Greece's junior national teams in the past, this is Koufos' first experience playing for the full-fledged national team. The 20-year-old is coming off the bench behind some longtime members of the Greek national team and veterans of the country's pro league.
--Ross Siler
Karl Malone and John Stockton are givens. Thurl Bailey, Mark Eaton, Rickey Green, Darrell Griffith, Greg Ostertag and Bryon Russell also enjoy the distinction among retired players. Andrei Kirilenko is set to return for his ninth season in Utah.
That leaves one name: Did you guess Jarron Collins, with career averages of 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in eight seasons all spent with the Jazz?
With a little more than two weeks, though, before the start of training camp, Collins' future with the Jazz is uncertain. The free-agent center wrote in an e-mail that he hoped Utah "remains in the picture, but I just don't know yet."
In the meantime, Collins is exploring options elsewhere. He's in Cleveland this week working out and playing with the Cavaliers and is planning to do the same next week in Portland with the Trail Blazers.
The Cavaliers have an open roster spot and are expected to carry the maximum 15 players while the Trail Blazers have 13 players under contract after signing second-round draft pick Jeff Pendergraph this week.
Portland reportedly was set to audition Juwan Howard and Stromile Swift this week and is planning to sign at least one additional player before the start of camp.
The Jazz's situation is complicated by the fact that they have 13 players already under contract, including a pair of young centers in Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko, and a projected $82 million payroll pushing them deep into luxury tax territory.
Their second-round draft pick, Michigan State center Goran Suton, will be coming to camp on a non-guaranteed qualifying offer in the hopes of making the team.
Although his twin brother, Jason, signed earlier this month with Atlanta, Collins remains unsigned for now, despite long having been a favorite of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. Collins even started playoff games last spring while Mehmet Okur was injured.
Given the annual roster turnover in the NBA, it will be the end of an era in some respects if Collins doesn't return to Utah and Matt Harpring (seven seasons with the Jazz) calls it a career in the coming weeks.
* * *
Koufos totaled four points and a team-high eight rebounds Wednesday in his most extensive action so far of the European championships. Koufos played 20 minutes and also had three steals, two blocks and three turnovers as Greece beat Israel 106-80 to finish 3-0 in the first stage of pool play.
Turkey and France were the only other teams to open the tournament 3-0. Greece next will play Germany on Friday, followed by games against Russia and France in the second stage of pool play. The top four teams from each of the two remaining six-team groups will advance to the quarterfinals.
Through three games, Koufos is averaging 6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 14 minutes. Although he has starred for Greece's junior national teams in the past, this is Koufos' first experience playing for the full-fledged national team. The 20-year-old is coming off the bench behind some longtime members of the Greek national team and veterans of the country's pro league.
--Ross Siler
4:06 PM
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