"If he's willing to work at it," the Jazz basketball boss added, "I think he can get himself in better shape and get some (pounds) off."

Perrin, for one, thinks Davis can.

"This is the best he's looked since (high school)," he said. "He did a good job of losing weight last summer. He's getting his body in shape."

The question is what will Davis morph into once he begins living the NBA lifestyle.

On one hand, he'll certainly never look like Keon Clark or Mikki Moore — and may never develop a physique a la Karl Malone.

On the other, NBA clubs simply are looking for signs that he'll also never become Greg Ostertag-chubby, Charles Barkley round-moundish or, in the extreme, anything even remotely resembling Oliver "Pig"

Miller.

"He's got a nice, sculpted body," Perrin said. "I mean, he's showing definition.

"He's probably got to lose a little more body fat," the Jazz's lead scout added, "but you're never gonna get him down to 250. I mean, he'd look anorexic from what he has been in the past."

Beyond such weighty matters, Davis says he must convince NBA teams that his SEC-high 10.4 rebounds-per-game average this past season is the real deal.

"Can I play at this level? Can I still dominate as a rebounder? Can I rebound on the same level as college? You never know," he said, "until you get there."

But upon arrival to whatever locale it may wind up being, Davis vows he'll be able to boost more than the bottom line of local restaurants and groceries.

"I'm an isolation guy, like Carlos Boozer," he said with regard to Utah's starting power forward. "Guys that are too small, he uses to his advantage. Guys too big, he goes around them. I think I can help in that way and bring another tough guy out there to play some 'D' and get some loose balls and just do little things.

"I'm just ready to play. Ready to win a championship," added Davis, who hails from the home of LSU, Baton Rouge, La. "You know, that's what it's all about. Immortality. Everyone wants a piece of it. I want my piece of it too."

And he wasn't talking about the pie.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com