"It's nice to have him around, nice to see him working out (at the practice facility). It's good for us that he's in here, it's good for us that he cares about who we're gonna draft — because we want him part of this for a long time, and we want him to be involved in it."

RUMOR MILL: According to NBA columnist Mitch Lawrence, writing in Sunday's New York Daily News, "The (Miami) Heat, incidentally, still has plans to land Boozer next summer when he's free, even with (No. 2 overall draft choice) Michael Beasley now in the front court."

Boozer can opt out of his current six-year contract next summer, and rampant rumors suggest he'll do just that — perhaps with plans to hook with the Heat.

HMMM: According to Sunday's Denver Post, 6-foot-8 Denver Nuggets small forward Carmelo Anthony "is expected to be an Olympic starter for his country at power forward, where he thrived the past couple of years during international play."

If so, that probably means two-time NBA All-Star power forward Boozer — also a member of Team USA — will come off the bench for a second straight Olympics.

ALUMNI UPDATE: According to the Detroit Pistons' "official" blog spot, ex-Jazz reserve point guard Dee Brown will play on the Pistons' summer league team in July.

Brown, a 2006 Utah second-round draft choice and a former teammate of Williams' at Illinois, played for the Jazz two seasons ago and played last season in Turkey.

The Pistons are entered in the 21-team NBA Summer League that runs July 11-20 in Las Vegas.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com