Utah Jazz not in any hurry to fill Ronnie Brewer's vacant spot

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Jazz have another week or so before they must add a requisite 13th player to fill the roster spot left vacant by Thursday's trade of starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer to Memphis.

They'll take their time doing so, general manager Kevin O'Connor suggested Friday.

O'Connor said the Jazz will monitor other teams' transactions should someone be waived and became available that way, they'll weigh a call-up from the NBA Development League and they'll consider a free-agent signing as well.

"If we could find somebody who had NBA experience," he said, "we would look at that if we felt we could find somebody who could help with what we're doing."

With Deron Williams, Ronnie Price and rookie Sundiata Gaines already on the roster, the Jazz have no interest in a fourth point guard.

Beyond that they're open to adding a wing player or a big man, but O'Connor said that at this point in the season it could be "difficult" to find a serviceable big who could play behind Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap but ahead of Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said the Jazz do have needs, "but we're not gonna get it."

AFTER THE FACT: Some Jazz trade rumors, after the fact: Reports Miami made a late bid to acquire Boozer are being denied by team officials in Utah and Miami.

But according to multiple NBA sources and reports there was an effort by the Heat in which (in various proposals, some as a three-team deal and some as a four-team deal) Miami would have gotten Amare Stoudemire from Phoenix, Boozer and Washington guard Mike James would have gone to the Suns, Memphis would have given up its 2010 first-round pick and acquired Miami swingman Dorell Wright (negating its need to a acquire Brewer) and both players with expiring contracts and draft picks would have gone to Utah.

The swaps never came close to fruition, though, mostly because the Jazz weren't interested and the Suns couldn't find a taker for guard Leandro Barbosa.

The Arizona Republic also reported that "the closest the Suns came to trading Stoudemire was during their talks with Cleveland," and that when that failed Phoenix tried to "arrange a three-way deal that then would have brought" Boozer to Phoenix, sent Stoudemire to the Cavaliers and put Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas (later dealt to Washington) in Utah.

Koufos' camp, meanwhile, made a failed bid to create interest in its client and get him traded out of Utah.

NO OKUR: The Jazz played Golden State without Okur, who returned to Utah for the birth of his first son.

Okur flew with the team from New Orleans to California on Thursday, then flew from there to Salt Lake City on Thursday night after learning wife Yeliz was ready to deliver.

A healthy Yigit Mehmet Okur arrived early Friday morning, checking in at 21 inches and eight pounds, two ounces. Yigit, pronounced "yeet," is a popular Turkish boys name that according to turkishculture.org means "brave man."

A proud papa made it to town in time for the C-section birth, and was replaced in the Jazz's opening lineup Friday as Millsap started up front alongside Boozer.

Okur had planned on skipping Utah's game at Portland on Sunday, when a planned birth had been scheduled. As of Friday night, the Jazz weren't expecting him to make it to Portland.

Okur and his wife have one other child, daughter Melisa.

e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com

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