Utah Jazz hoping team cohesion, not contract issues, prove key

Media Day for the Utah Jazz was filled with laughter, warm receptions and a court full of familiar faces.

Nobody brought potato salad or swapped cherished stories about wacky Uncle Earl. But other than those minor details, Monday sure felt like a family reunion for the Jazz, who return a whopping 13 players from last season's team.

As they prepare to begin their four-day fall training camp today in Boise, the Jazz believe the familiarity on and off the court and tight-knit friendships they have in unusual abundance will play to their advantage during the upcoming 2008-09 season.

"We have a great chemistry," Jazz forward Carlos Boozer said.

That was one of the common C-words of the day. The Jazz family, it seems, might start something akin to a swear-word jar for players who mention the other popular one: contracts.

Veteran guard Brevin Knight and rookie center Kosta Koufos are the only new Jazz players in camp this fall with guaranteed contracts, but the roster could look drastically different next year. Between free agency and contract options, it's possible that only six of the current group will be back in 2009-10.

You've heard of contract years for players?

Consider this a contract year for the franchise.

Just don't expect Jazz players, who could flourish or flounder in this now-or-perhaps-never-together again environment — to talk about their futures.

"I'm telling you right now, we're not going to worry about that," Boozer said. "Nobody's contract is going to be talked about. We're going to talk about playing basketball, winning games and trying to win a championship. All the contract stuff we can wait until this summer (to do)."

Nevertheless, Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver can all opt out of their contracts at the end of the year. And though rumors were spread about Boozer's possible departure to Miami or Memphis next season, the Jazz's only returning All-Star from last year promises he isn't going to stoke the rumor-mill fire.

"I'm not going to speak about it. I advised my teammates not to speak about it," he said. "Let's focus on us, get ready to win a championship and then we'll worry about that in the summertime.

"We want to win a championship, that's all that matters."