Utah Jazz notebook: Utah could find 'no takers' in bid to move up in draft

SALT LAKE CITY — The Jazz wanted, and tried, to move up in Thursday's NBA Draft.

No such luck.

"We tried very, very hard to trade up, and there were no takers," general manager Kevin O'Connor said. "We talked to numerous teams.

"We had a couple chips ... and there just weren't any takers. I think everybody felt very comfortable with where they were."

None of the eight teams above Utah traded out of their position on draft night.

If the Jazz traded up, it would have been to take a big. Instead, they selected Butler swingman Gordon Hayward at No. 9. O'Connor also said Utah had offers to move down from nine, but none was sufficiently enticing.

NOT NOW: O'Connor wouldn't address how the Hayward selection would impact Utah's willingness to re-sign backup shooting guard Kyle Korver, an unrestricted free agent.

"I will talk about that some other time," he said.

MILLSAP UNDRAFTED: Utah considered taking him in the second round, but Alabama-Birmingham shooting guard Elijah Millsap — Jazz power forward Paul Millsap's younger brother — didn't get drafted.

"Once we got (Hayward) then (Millsap) comes off the board a little bit," O'Connor said. "You don't want to put him in a situation where he maybe can't make the team ... with the numbers we have."

CORBIN TO CLIPPERS?: Jazz assistant coach Tyrone Corbin and ex-Jazz point guard Mark Jackson "possibly" are candidates for the Clippers' head coaching vacancy, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"That's the first I've heard," said Corbin, who added that no contact has been made yet and no interview has been scheduled.

The Times cited unidentified "league sources who were not authorized to speak publicly" in reporting that the "the Clippers are interested in Dallas assistant coach Dwane Casey, former Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro, former Atlanta coach Mike Woodson, former Minnesota executive and Hall of Famer Kevin McHale, and possibly ESPN's Jackson, who played for the Clippers, and Corbin."

Corbin, 47, earlier this offseason was among several candidates to interview for the New Orleans Hornets' job that went to Portland assistant Monty Williams. In previous offseasons, he's interviewed for vacancies in Chicago, Phoenix and Seattle (now Oklahoma City).

The longtime Jazz assistant and ex-Jazz forward never has been an NBA head coach.