Jazz make choice, sign Collins

One Jazz big man will be back, and another one should be preparing to pack.

The Jazz have come to terms on a multi-year deal with Jarron Collins, and will sign the 6-foot-11 forward-center on Tuesday, basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor said Saturday night.

By extension: Veteran center Greg Ostertag's career in Utah seemingly will come to a close with nine seasons in the books.

"It's probably gonna be difficult for us to re-sign Greg," O'Connor said.

"I think Greg, obviously, has some people (other teams) that are looking at him, and I think he continues to want to explore what's out there," he added. "And we got in a position to where we wanted to get another big guy, and he (Ostertag) wasn't ready to make a decision."

The guy the Jazz are getting back has been in Utah for three seasons, appearing on and off in the starting lineup during that span.

Collins, selected in the second round of the 2001 draft out of Stanford University, started 68 of 70 as a rookie. He started seven of 22 games the following season, but went down with a devastating knee injury involving tears of both the anterior cruciate and medial collateral knee ligaments. The 25-year-old did return to play 81 games last season, however, and started 31 of those.

In going with Collins over Ostertag, the last tie to Utah's player roster for their 1997 and '98 NBA Finals teams, the Jazz chose not only the more affordable option, but also the steadier.

Collins isn't nearly the shot-blocking threat nor the defensive presence Ostertag is, but he does something Ostertag has been hounded for not doing during many of the nine seasons since the Jazz made the 7-foot-2 Texan a first-round draft choice out of the University of Kansas in 1995: He comes to play every night.

"Inconsistency," Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, who was not opposed to bringing back Ostertag, said a few days ago, "is the name of (Ostertag's) game."

Still, the Jazz did debate between Collins and Ostertag.

But in the end — with only $4.6 million available in 2004-05 team payroll salary cap space, and the Jazz still needing to sign not only the big man's spot that went to Collins but also restricted free agent guard Mo Williams — dollars did play a part.

"The salary cap came in low," O'Connor said of the NBA setting the cap for next season at $43.87 million, "and we front-loaded some of (our) other deals."