Palacio is speaking his mind

He is less than a quarter-way into his first season in Utah. He is the quintessential journeyman, with stops in Toronto, Cleveland, Phoenix, Boston and Vancouver. He doesn't have a huge contract and in fact has a one-year deal that only ensures there is no telling where he might play next season.

Yet point guard Milt Palacio, high on the list of least-likely candidates, is the one emerging as vocal leader of the Jazz.

Not surprisingly for someone eager and anxious to fill such a role, he also is quite willing to talk about it.

"I just felt we do need a voice in this locker room," the seventh-season NBA veteran said from a stool in front of his changing stall at the Delta Center, "and I felt if I can do that and the guys can trust me, then why not?"

Fair question.

The Jazz do have designated captains, most notably Matt Harpring and Andrei Kirilenko. They have guys playing their fifth season or more in Utah — Kirilenko, Greg Ostertag, Jarron Collins. They have guys making the big bucks, including Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur.

And they even have a rookie point some hope eventually will become the franchise's leader for years and years to come, Deron Williams.

What they have not had since Raja Bell left Utah for Phoenix via free agency, however, is someone willing to speak his mind, get in the ears of teammates and tell it like it is.

Until, that is, Palacio — walking the fine line between knowing his place and knowing his team's needs — recently decided the time to step up was no better than the present.

"I was a little quiet before," he said, "but now I'm just trying to get a little more vocal.

"Sometimes you need a guy in the locker room that's gonna tell a guy, 'Hey, you're not playing good tonight. You're not playing good in one aspect of your game, but you can do something somewhere else.'

"Matt (Harpring) and A.K. (Kirilenko) and those guys are great leaders by example," Palacio added, "but sometimes you need a guy that's gonna talk it up and tell guys, 'Listen, this is what we're gonna do tonight; this is how we're gonna play.' "

It's really only over the last week or so that Palacio's voice has grown louder.

Picking the proper time, though, may be as critical to being heard as what is actually being said.