Boozer to practice soon?

LAS VEGAS — Injured Jazz All-Star Carlos Boozer said Friday he will decide whether to return to practice Monday afternoon only after learning the result of a follow-up exam planned for earlier Monday.

"First I'm going to get an X-ray and see if the bone's back together, and if the bone's together then definitely I'll give practice a shot," said Boozer, who has been out since sustaining a hairline fracture to the fibula bone head leading into his left knee during a Jan. 27 game.

"What they (doctors) told me is once (the bone) heals (the fracture) won't come back — but you have to let it heal first," added Boozer, who won't play in Sunday's NBA All-Star Game here because of the injury. "So I told them, 'OK, great, as soon as my bone is together I'll jump out there.' But if I jump out there before my bone's together, anything can happen."

Even if he's able to practice Monday, though, it remains to be seen if the Jazz's leading scorer and rebounder will be in good-enough shape to play in Utah's first game after the All-Star break, Tuesday at Portland.

"I'll determine that with how Monday goes," Boozer said. "I'm not ruling out anything."

BOOZER INVITE COMING: Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo said Friday that Boozer — a 2004 United States Olympian — will soon be asked to join the national-team program roster.

"We plan to have a conversation with him and extend an invitation," Colangelo said, confirming rumors that have swirled for some time.

Boozer has said previously that if asked he would, without reservation, join Team USA this summer as it prepares for the 2008 Summer Games. Boozer, however, still would have to survive a series of roster cuts to actually make his second Olympic team.

UNION MATTERS: With a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement having been reached in 2005, Jazz shooting guard Derek Fisher — who formally takes over as president of the NBA Players Association this weeked — hopes his union can take advantage of some relative downtime to make the next round of negotiations proceed without any major hangups.

"I think, overall, the NBA and the players are at a good place in terms of our game and our business," said Fisher, who is in Las Vegas to take part in a series of union-related meetings during the All-Star break.