Andrei Kirilenko may not have wanted to say much about his desire to be traded away from Utah, but several Jazz teammates were willing to weigh in Monday on the messy matter.

Chief among them was starting point guard Deron Williams, who since last season ended with a Western Conference finals loss to San Antonio both has been critical of Kirilenko and has expressed a desire to find ways to get the disgruntled starting small forward from Russia more active in the Jazz offense.

"I think that's part of my job," Williams said Monday, when the Jazz held a Media Day gathering before leaving for this morning's start of training camp in Boise. "To a certain extent, you know, there's only so much you can do, so much that can be done.

"If a guy doesn't want to play here, and that's ultimately how he feels in his heart, you can't really control that. But you try to make him feel as comfortable as possible while he's here. I definitely can do that. And getting him involved more — I definitely can do that."

One of Kirilenko's chief issues throughout an offseason of discontent has been trying to deal with what it takes to play for Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, a challenge Williams had to overcome during his rookie NBA season in 2005-06.

"I just had to make up my mind that I could sit there and pout and sulk and be angry with (Sloan), or I could take it upon myself and try to bounce back," Williams said. "And I think that's what I did. I took that All-Star break, and I said to myself, 'Regardless of whether he plays me at the 1 (point guard) or the 2 (shooting guard), and whether it's five minutes or 30 minutes, I'm just gonna play hard, I'm gonna compete and hopefully earn some playing time.' "

But Kirilenko, Williams hastened to add, is in something of a different position because of his status not only as a one-time NBA All-Star but also as a seven-season veteran.

"I don't know if his pride would allow him to be the same as when I was a rookie," Williams said. "I had no room to even voice my opinion, really."

Opinions on the summer-long saga weren't hard to find Monday — especially when it comes to the strained relationship between Kirilenko and Sloan.

"I don't (think) any player ever agrees with anything his coach ever does — but, at the same time, they trust each other, because they know that (each other) knows how to do his job," shooting guard C.J. Miles said.

"As long as they have that medium where they trust each other on the court," Miles added, "they'll be fine."