Yep, payback can get hectic.

"When you're a second-round pick, you look at each team that took another player ahead of you, and every time you go up against them, you want to do better than that player," said Boozer, drafted 35th in 2002. "It's not my main motivating factor anymore, but it's definitely still there."

And no team capitalizes on that factor more than the Utah Jazz, whose roster is loaded with second-rounders like no other franchise in basketball. Seven Jazz players, including three projected starters, fell completely out of the first round when they entered the league, more than any other team. In fact, only Atlanta features as many as five second-rounders.

"My agent told me, it doesn't matter where you start out," said Jarron Collins, the 52nd player chosen in 2001. "Once you get in the league, all that matters is what you do with the opportunity."

Consider Salt Lake City the land of second-round opportunity. Along with Boozer and Collins, Utah's 15-player roster includes Mehmet Okur, Gordan Giricek, C.J. Miles, Paul Millsap and Dee Brown - first-round exclusions every one.

The Jazz began building a reputation for second-round success in the 1990s, with Bryon Russell and Shandon Anderson blossoming into NBA players. Then Mo Williams added to the record in 2003. Even their free-agent signees, Okur and Boozer, are second-rounders, which is why this year's roster sets a new franchise high.

It's not entirely by chance, either. Kevin O'Connor's first-round missteps over the past seven years have been well-documented, but his second-round finds have helped buttress Utah's roster. Good thing, too, since the Jazz probably are at a disadvantage in luring high-profile free agents, making the draft more important to Utah.

"We try to evaluate them on the basis of the things they can do, as opposed to the things they can't do," said O'Connor, senior vice president of basketball operations. "If you just see a guy's flaws, you probably won't" take the second round as seriously.

The Jazz, on the other hand, have a strategy for those picks. "We say 'OK, who succeeded in college?' Let's make a list of those players, and then say, 'Why were they successful? And is that a skill that can help us?' " O'Connor said. "From there, maybe you say, 'Can he change positions, or is he capable of having similar success another level up?' Jerry [Sloan] does a good job of thinking through how a guy can help us, and what that guy maybe can't do."

Millsap, who led the NCAA in rebounding for three seasons at Louisiana Tech despite being only 6-foot-9 and not particularly quick, is a classic example, O'Connor said. "He doesn't have the size, he didn't play the top competition. People judge him that way and move on," he said. "But he can rebound, and he rebounded against everyone he played for three years, when all those teams tried to prevent him from rebounding. Now, can he do it at the next level? Well, let's see."

And once they get to Utah, they aren't written off. "They played us [second-rounders] a lot. They depend on us to come in and bring energy," Millsap said. "I didn't know if I would" get such an opportunity.

First-round draft picks automatically earn millions; Joel Freeland, the 30th and final pick of last June's draft, is guaranteed $1.9 million over two seasons once he finally comes to the NBA. But second-rounders aren't assured of earning even one dollar. They have to prove to their teams they deserve a contract.

Yet "I don't think I would change anything," said Collins. "I went to the right spot. They gave me a chance. I know a lot of guys from my draft class that aren't in the league anymore."

Yep, and the draft-day disappointment sticks around awhile. "I thought I was first-round talent," said Boozer, chosen after Marcus Haislip, Chris Jefferies, Ryan Humphries, Steve Logan, Robert Archibald and . . . Curtis Borchardt. Oops. "In my experience, that made me hungry," Boozer added.

"Whatever they judge you about your game, you want to prove them all wrong," Collins said. "Everybody has that mentality in the second round."

pmiller@sltrib.com