A short time later, Fisher agreed to sign with the Lakers — the team with which he won his three rings — for $14 million over three years.

The move was beneficial in at least one sense for the Jazz, as it will help them sign Williams to a max-money contract extension next offseason without exceeding the league's payroll luxury tax threshold.

But it also left them with several voids.

One was at shooting guard, a position where 2006 lottery pick Ronnie Brewer has emerged as the likely successor in the Jazz's starting lineup. Another was at backup point, a vacancy addressed with the signing of free agents Jason Hart and Ronnie Price. The biggest, however, may have been in the locker room, where Fisher lobbed wisdom like alley-oop assists.

"We were pretty close, man," Williams said. "His influence on me — I always asked him things. ... A lot of guys picked up some of the things that he did."

Boozer may never forget that day the Jazz were down 0-2 to the Houston Rockets in the opening round of last season's playoffs, and Fisher — perhaps best known for his buzzer-beating shot against San Antonio in the 2004 postseason — had a tale to tell.

Said Fisher, according to Boozer: "Everybody remembers my 0.4 shot against the Spurs in Game 5, but what they don't remember is that we came to San Antonio first, went down 0-2, went back to L.A. and tied it up 2-2."

"He was telling us we can back from 0-2," Boozer said. "Little things like that ... In that regard, we can't replace his experience or his court presence."

What Boozer and Williams can do, though, is lead like they were taught.

"Fish definitely helped us out in a lot of ways last year — on the court, off the court. Just his experience helped us to get to where we were at," Williams said. "At the same time, we've got a great group of guys here still, and we feel like we're capable of leading this team."

"We have a lot on our shoulders," Boozer added, "but we're up for that challenge every night."

---

E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com