Utah Jazz: Critical calls needed on returnees

With at least six and up to nine of their 15 players from the 2008-09 NBA season about to hit the league's open-in-July free-agency market, the Jazz — it's been abundantly clear for some time now — will have several crucial calls to make in the summer to come.

Not to be overlooked, however, is the fact they'll also have critical decisions to make surrounding the six who remain.

Several issues — including key choices about roles and playing time and even contract matters — hover over those half-dozen with guaranteed contracts for next season and, in some cases, beyond.

With the June 25 NBA Draft still more than a month away, and the start of free-agency shopping even more distant than that, what follows is an overview of just some of the decisions to be made on those slated to return:

Kosta Koufos

Their first-round draft choice from last season helped plug holes when the Jazz were thin on big men early on, but Koufos soon found what would become a familiar seat near the end of the bench.

The 20-year-old eventually spent a short stint in the NBA Development League, and was a non-factor — buried behind little-used reserve big man Kyrylo Fesenko — in the postseason.

Now, the Jazz must decide if an older and more experienced Koufos will be ready for prime-time play — or if they'll still need help off the bench from the likes of Fesenko, who has a team option that must be decided on by June 15; or veteran Jarron Collins, an unrestricted free agent; or perhaps someone brought in from the outside, either via trade, free agency or the draft.

The Jazz also must decide before the start of next season if they'll pick up the guaranteed third-season option on Koufos' rookie contract, or if — as they did with 2007 first-rounder Morris Almond — they'll take a pass.

Having such calls fall in his favor will require a firm grasp of the Jazz offense, something that was a bit slow to come in Koufos' initial season out of Ohio State.

They'll also require an ability to prove to coach Jerry Sloan that he can make the leap from being a still-learning rookie to a serviceable NBA sophomore — such as the one ...

Ronnie Brewer

The Jazz have until the end of October to decide if they'll extend the rookie contract of their starting shooting guard, just as they did last offseason with starting point guard Deron Williams.