It doesn't take a USU accounting degree like Nelson has to do the math. In the meantime, roster vacancies in Europe — where play begins before the NBA — are mostly filled. Still, the 25-year-old was willing to roll the dice and play what amounts to be a numbers game.

"In making the decision, you try to inform yourself as best as possible," Nelson said, explaining that he and his agent are well aware of the risks involved. "We analyzed everything as best as we possibly could."

Nelson knows it will take much more than the high-energy style of play for which he is known — besides being an All-Big West selection last season, he also was the conference's "Hustle Player of the Year" — to make it in the NBA.

Still, he forges on.

"Once you get here, all you can do is control how you play and how hard you work," the Pocatello, Idaho, native said. "That's what I'm focusing in on now."

Nelson does so, though, with something of a headstart.

Though undrafted, he impressed Jazz brass with his pre-draft workout — not just on the court, but also off. Nelson followed with an eye-opening showing while playing for the Jazz's Rocky Mountain Revue summer-league team.

"He works hard, he plays hard," Sloan said. "He's going to make people work, because he's going to work. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty. We like that about him. We like that for our camp, and we like it for his chances at possibly playing."

That assessment surely swayed Nelson's decision to remain close to home, at least for now.

"I had a great time at the Revue, and I felt like this was a system I could play in and contribute to," he said. "The way the coaches are, it reminds me a lot of Utah State — the way they ran the system there."

Since leaving USU, Nelson's ambitions amplified.

What once may not have seemed realistic now is on the radar, and with every passing day it seems to be more than a blip.

"Obviously, every kid dreams about being in the NBA," he said. "I think coming out my goal was just to play at the highest level possible, and at that time I didn't know exactly where that was.

"You think, as a player, that you can contribute to an NBA team — but you also have to go through the process of trying out, and finding out what they think. I just wanted to play at the highest level possible, and that's still my goal. If that's here in the NBA, great. I hope I can contribute to the Jazz. But if it ends up being somewhere else, so be it.

"Hopefully it won't happen," Nelson added, "but if I do get cut then I'll have to accept it, and move on, and find the next-best place to play."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com