Jazz to sign ex-Rebel Amundson

The Jazz on Monday said they will sign D-League forward Louis Amundson to a 10-day contract, pending his passing of a physical exam today.

Amundson, a 6-foot-8 University of Nevada-Las Vegas product who went undrafted last June, has averaged 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while logging 25.0 minutes per game for the Colorado 14ers.

The Colorado native also appeared in six preseason games last October for the Sacramento Kings, scoring two points in 43 minutes. But he's never appeared in a regular-season NBA game.

"The commonly used term is 'maybe an energy guy that has got a little bit of an upside,' " Jazz basketball boss Kevin O'Connor said in describing Amundson, who plays power forward and small forward. "(He's) a guy that's probably gonna do more of 'the little things' than he's gonna be a scorer."

Amundson — the ninth NBA callup from the D-League this season, and the third in Jazz history (along with retired guard Rusty LaRue and current New Jersey Nets big man Mikki Moore) — averaged 7.2 points and 5.6 rebounds at UNLV.

His first practice with the Jazz, who don't play again until Saturday versus New York, will be Wednesday.

The pending signing was prompted in part by the absence of usual starting power forward Carlos Boozer, who missed his third straight game Monday due to a hairline fracture on the top of the fibula bone leading into his left knee.

The addition brings the Jazz's roster count to 14 players, no more than 12 of whom can be active on a game-to-game basis.

Among those passed over in favor of Amundson: rookie swingman Roger Powell Jr., waived by the Jazz last month. Powell is averaging 34 points in his past two games for Arkansas of the D-League.

OKUR HONORED: Jazz big man Mehmet Okur on Monday was named the NBA's Western Conference Player of the Week for games played last week, when he averaged 26.0 points and 11.3 rebounds over three games.

Okur's week included a 31-point, 11-rebound effort in Utah's win over San Antonio and a 29-point, 12-rebound performance that included five points in the final minute of a three-point victory at Phoenix.

Okur becomes the second Jazz player so honored this season, joining Boozer, who's been recognized twice.

COLLINS, MILLSAP SWAPPED: The Jazz's experiment with rookie power forward Paul Millsap as a starter has ended, at least for now, at one game.