From Deseret News archives:
O'Connor is mum on Brown, Miles
But he did jump at the chance to correct a radio report from Thursday that indicated that the Jazz had completed a deal for second-round draft choice Kyrylo Fesenko, the 7-foot-1 20-year-old who is still under contract to his Ukrainian team.
"I understand some things have been said about him which are incorrect," said the Jazz senior vice president of basketball operations. "We have not come to any kind of an agreement or any kind of deal with him. That's not been done."
Asked if the Jazz were working on buying out Fesenko's contract from the Ukrainian team — the buyout this year is $500,000 and goes up to $1 million next year — O'Connor said, "That's no comment."
Fesenko's Miami Beach-based agent, Jason Levien, said recently that he's been in conversations with the Jazz about getting the deal done and hoped to hear something in a week or so.
Utah could leave Fesenko in the Ukraine for another year for seasoning or sign him for their roster and either use him with the Jazz or send him to the NBDL Orem Flash minor-league team, but O'Connor won't tip his hand and said last week the decision wouldn't really have to be made until sometime in September.
That decision may have an effect on whether the Jazz re-sign unrestricted free-agent center Rafael Araujo, the BYU product who spent last season with the Jazz on their inactive list much of the time.
As for Brown and Miles, both were issued qualifying offers on July 1, and those offers were not rescinded by Utah by the July 23 deadline, meaning they're still on the table for either or both to sign. The Jazz still have the right to match any offer either of them might get from another team.
"I'm not going to comment on our restricted free agents. It's still on the table, yeah," O'Connor said.
IMPRESSIVE DUNK: What struck O'Connor about former Sacramento guard Ronnie Price's big dunk last fall over Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer was not so much the act itself but what happened afterward. "He did it and then he ran downcourt to start to play defense again. It wasn't like he was parading around or he was high-fiving people. That shows something about the character, too," said O'Connor of his newest acquisition. "He made a basketball play, and it was a heckuva basketball play, but he continued to play basketball."
MEMO HURT: Jazz center Mehmet Okur injured an ankle when a Turkish National teammate landed on it during practice in Italy for the European Championships, and he missed one game. He played the next game against Australia but scored only two points.
ON THE MOVE: Former University of Hawaii guard Matt Lojeski, who played well at times for the Jazz in the Rocky Mountain Revue, is off to play with Okapi Aalstar of the top Belgian pro league, according to the Honolulu Advertiser. Lojeski averaged 5.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in the Revue and has already been invited back for the 2008 Revue, the Advertiser said, quoting his agent, Ben Pensack.
Former Jazz guard Jay Humphries, 44, has signed on as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns, who drafted him in 1984. He spent the last five seasons coaching in Korea.
E-mail: lham@desnews.com
