Utah Jazz: UNC's Ed Davis will work out for Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY — University of North Carolina power forward Ed Davis, a serious candidate to be selected by the Jazz at No. 9 overall in Thursday's NBA Draft, will audition for the team Friday morning.

Davis — 6-foot-9 without shoes, 6-93/4 with — averaged 13.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in a sophomore season for the Tar Heels that was cut short by a broken wrist.

He's one of several big men the Jazz will be considering at No. 9, including Georgetown power forward Greg Monroe, Kansas center Cole Aldrich and Baylor big Ekpe Udoh, among others.

ESPN.com currently projects that Davis will go No. 10 overall to Indiana, with Utah instead using its first-round pick on Nevada small forward Luke Babbitt.

But a Wisconsin newspaper that covers the Milwaukee Bucks, the Racine Journal-Times, this week quoted an unnamed "NBA exec" as saying Davis won't get past Utah at No. 9.

Davis will work out in front of Jazz brass against Kim Tillie, a 6-11 forward who played four seasons for the University of Utah.

Tillie, from France, also worked out last Monday for Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Tillie already has agreed to terms with ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, a well-known French Pro A league team that San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker owns a share of and that ex-Jazz center Curtis Borchardt signed with last year.

Borchardt no longer is with the club.

He played just nine French League and one Euroleague games for ASVEL, missing most of the 2009-10 season due to injury.

e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com