Boozer happy to be here

Summer-league play is done, and it's apparent the Jazz are pleased with the initial offerings of rookie draft choices Ronnie Brewer, Paul Millsap and Dee Brown.

Matt Harpring and Jarron Collins have been re-signed, as was the plan. Rafael Araujo and Derek Fisher have arrived via trade, and both maintain they now look forward to fresh starts.

One burning issue, however, lingers as the NBA's slow season approaches.

Do the Jazz plan to trade Carlos Boozer? How close did they come to pulling the plug on their $68 million power forward shortly before last month's NBA Draft? And how much does Boozer really want to remain in Utah?

If you believe multiple members of the Jazz camp, including two higher-ups openly willing to address the matter, the answers in order are:

No.

Not very.

Very much.

Deem it damage control. Call it the truth. Perhaps it's something somewhere in between.

Whatever one's interpretation of the tales they tell, it's evident that for now the Jazz fully intend into to go into the 2006-07 season with Boozer being one of the cornerstones of their foundation.

'Have I been traded?'

Jazz president Denny Haslam may never forget one particular pre-draft phone conversation with franchise owner Larry H. Miller.

"I was going to the airport," Haslam said, "and he (Miller) called me and said, 'I just talked to Boozer, and the first thing he said was, 'You guys haven't traded me, have you?' "

Miller fills in the rest of the conversation.

"He (Boozer) actually called me one day and said, 'Now I just want to make sure that I'm not going to be traded. I keep hearing that. Can you give me an assurance?' " the Jazz owner said. "I said, 'Absolutely.' He says, 'And I can rely on that?' And I said, 'Absolutely.' He says, 'Shrrewww, OK.' "

Boozer, Haslam added, told Miller, "I want to be a Jazzman."

Miller — who was at odds with Boozer during the second half of of the 2004-05 season but since seems to have patched things up — said he believes the 25-year-old.