Jazz begin puzzling free agent search, slowly

Kevin O'Connor compared the Jazz's first full day of 2004 NBA free agency to "a crossword puzzle . . . that's been dumped out of the box."

Crossword. Jigsaw. Maybe it's more like Scrabble.

Whatever the case, trying to determine exactly where the Jazz stand after the first-day teams are permitted to woo prospective players is puzzling indeed.

Utah has more summer-market money to spend than any other team in the league, upwards of $26 million.

But unlike Phoenix, which reportedly has already agreed on a multi-year deal with Dallas Mavericks free agent point guard Steve Nash, the Jazz indicated Thursday they have come to terms with no one yet.

In fact, O'Connor — the Jazz's senior vice president for basketball operations — said offers will be made only "when it's comfortable."

For both sides.

"When is that?" O'Connor asked. "Could that be tomorrow? Yeah."

Or maybe sometime after the Fourth of July holiday, he said.

O'Connor would not comment when asked if any actual offers were made right away. But it's quite possible the Jazz did just that, perhaps with a highly sought target like Detroit Pistons big man Mehmet Okur.

It's believed the Jazz also made contact with New Jersey Nets restricted free agent Kenyon Martin's agent, though nationally reported characterization of Utah's standing as a front-runner for the All-Star power forward may be a bit of an overstatement.

With as much money as the Jazz have available, some players inevitably will try to use Utah to get better deals elsewhere.

"My guess is that if you're sitting there asking me that, I'm sitting there saying there's some people saying, 'You know what? They've got a lot of money. Let's put out there that Utah's interested in them,' " said O'Connor, who would not say if he was specifically referencing Martin.

"I would think that that's happening," he added. "Because I read where we're interested in some people that (we) never had a contact with — and, as a matter of fact, not only haven't we had a contact, we've talked to them and said we weren't interested."

In any event, O'Connor hopes his club can reach agreement with its highest priorities sometime before July 14 — the first day players can actually sign contracts or offer sheets agreed upon during the so-called negotiating period.