With general manager Kevin O'Connor on the road this week, the Jazz have yet to sit down and discuss possibilities for the 13th player they must sign in the coming days to replace Ronnie Brewer after last week's trade.
The Jazz are expected to wait and see what develops from the wave of buyouts expected around the league by Monday, but O'Connor does have one preference when it comes to the spot.
"My inclination is that we're going to try to look at a veteran if there's one out there," O'Connor said.
The list of players who have been bought out or released in recent days includes Kenny Thomas , Larry Hughes , Brian Cardinal and Brian Cook . Zydrunas Ilgauskas is expected to be bought out by Washington shortly and would be a player of interest to the Jazz.
Two names that likely will be on the Jazz's short list of players under consideration are center Mikki Moore and forward Rob Kurz . Mark Bartelstein , the agent for both players, said Wednesday that he'd spoken to the Jazz about Moore and Kurz.
Moore played 28 games with the Jazz in the 2003-04 season and started 20 games with Golden State this season before undergoing December heel surgery. Bartelstein said Moore was expected to be fully healthy in a couple of weeks.
Kurz has spent the season in the NBA Development League after playing as a rookie with Golden State last season. He was part of the seven-man Warriors squad that shocked the Jazz last April at EnergySolutions Arena, scoring 21 points and hitting four three-pointers.
"Obviously, you'd like to get somebody you hope that can fill in for you if somebody's hurt or somebody who's young that comes in and [has] the chance to get better," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said.
High praise
Charlotte coach Larry Brown paid Deron Williams one of the highest compliments Williams has received in five seasons with the Jazz.
"I don't think there's a better player in the league than Deron Williams," Brown said. "You don't hear him talked about like the others, but the effect he has on games to me are every bit as dramatic as any of the great ones we talk about."
Brown said he watched the Jazz's overtime victory Sunday against Portland and was impressed by Williams' defense on Brandon Roy down the stretch. "I thought he was the key to the win even though a lot of other people played well," Brown said.
Concerning O'Connor, one of his former assistant coaches and a close friend, Brown joked: "I remember when Kevin was talking about drafting [Williams] or Chris Paul . We were teasing him it was like Marilyn Monroe or Jane Russell . He did all right."
Kirilenko cautious
Andrei Kirilenko pegged his odds of playing at "50/50" at the pregame shootaround but decided after warm-ups Wednesday to give his back an extra night of rest. Kirilenko said he planned to return Friday at Sacramento.
When he went through similar back issues in the fall, Kirilenko missed a game, returned for the next game and had to miss the following five. He decided it was better to be safe than sorry this time. "I don't want to mess it up and start it over," he said.
