Grant gets his present 2 days late

DENVER — On Tuesday, his 30th birthday, Paul Grant was waived by the Jazz.

Two days later, he received a belated present.

As expected, the Jazz on Thursday signed Grant to a 10-day contract, meaning the 7-foot center will be in uniform for tonight's game against the Denver Nuggets.

The transactions were made because the Jazz did not want to guarantee Grant's contract for the rest of the season, which by NBA rule they would have been required to do if his original contract were still valid as of Saturday.

After this 10-day deal expires, they can sign him to one more 10-day before either waiving him permanently or paying him for the rest of the season.

Utah initially signed Grant, whom it had cut in training camp, on New Year's Day as a replacement for injured big man Ben Handlogten.

Handlogten, out for the season, underwent surgery Thursday morning to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Grant has played three games for Utah, averaging 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.3 minutes.

HARPRING UPDATE: Jazz captain and usual starting small forward Matt Harpring traveled to Denver with the team Thursday night, but he does not plan to play tonight.

Instead, Harpring plans to go to the Steadman Clinic in nearby Vail, Colo., to personally see Dr. Richard Steadman for what will be a fifth opinion on his aching right knee.

Harpring, bothered by cartilage beneath the kneecap, is trying to decide whether to have surgery on the knee.

He has not played since last Friday at Memphis, but so far rest has not managed to alleviate his pain.

If he decides to have surgery rather than play through the pain, Jazz trainer Gary Briggs said Thursday, Harpring will be out at least six weeks and possibly for the rest of the season.

A final decision is expected by the weekend.

RUFFIN UPDATE: Forward Michael Ruffin, who has not played all season due to an abdominal strain, is listed as "probable" for tonight's game.

Earlier this week he was seen and cleared by a hernia specialist, eliminating that potential cause for concern.

"He feels good enough to play, he said," Briggs said.

Ruffin, a Denver native, was hurt in the preseason.

NO NEW DATE: The Jazz and Grizzlies still have not been able to agree on a date for a makeup game of Wednesday night's postponement, Jazz spokesman Kim Turner said Thursday night.

Wednesday's Utah-Memphis Delta Center game was not played because the Grizzlies were snow-bound in Portland.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com