Jazz weigh alternatives for end-of-roster guys

A week, or two, or three or more in Albuquerque could be their worst nightmare. In the alternative, it could be a welcome first step toward living the dream.

So it will go this season for Jazz players eligible to be sent to Utah's new minor-league affiliate, the NBA Development League's Albuquerque Thunderbirds.

Thanks to terms of the new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its Players Association, NBA teams now are permitted to send first- and second-season pros to the minors.

For the various Jazz players affected, implications of such a stint would be decidedly different.

Kris Humphries, a former lottery pick who is headed into his second NBA season, or rookie Deron Williams, selected No. 3 overall in last June's draft, probably would view a ticket to Albuquerque as a sign of failure.

C.J. Miles, an 18-year-old second-round pick whose contract is fully guaranteed, might see both pros and cons. Ditto for fellow second-round rookie Robert Whaley, though his contract is not fully guaranteed.

Then there are free agents like James Lang, who — given the potential alternative of being waived outright — could use an Albuquerque stay as a springboard to the NBA.

The Jazz, though, still aren't sure precisely how they will use the D-League option.

"It will depend," basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor said, "on the individual and the circumstance."

While it is safe to suspect the Jazz have no plans whatsoever to send down Williams, who was drafted with the idea that he will be their primary point guard for seasons to come, it is possible that Miles or Whaley could go down a time or two — especially if they're not playing much on the NBA level, and the Jazz are at a point in the season where the schedule would not allow much time for practice between games.

If that were the case, though, their stays might not be long.

"I don't think we drafted anybody to say they're going to be in the NBADL for a year," O'Connor said. "I think we want them here, learning what we're trying to do, so that eventually they'll be able to try to do that."

Lang's case may be different.

Though raw, the young center drafted straight out of his Alabama high school by New Orleans in 2003 does seem to have NBA potential.