Utah Jazz: Doing the dirty work

General manager Kevin O'Connor isn't holding onto hope that Matt Harpring will play in the coming season, and teammates seem resigned to the likelihood that lingering ankle and knee injuries have curtailed the Jazz forward's NBA career.

It's a void to be filled, and not just by C.J. Miles, Andrei Kirilenko and Paul Millsap each picking up a few of Harpring's minutes.

Rather, auditions are under way at Jazz training camp for someone — anyone — to fill the role of a gritty, grumpy, nasty, pain-in-the-tail type who performs for low pay and doesn't necessarily need applause to know when his part's been well-played.

At the head of call line: Ronald Dupree, a 28-year-old journeyman in the word's truest sense.

He's played for five teams over five NBA seasons, logged just 154 games in that span and toiled all of last season in the NBA Development League simply because he knows he still can play at the highest level.

He doesn't have a guaranteed contract and isn't even assured he'll last much longer than when coach Jerry Sloan and the Jazz — in the summer, mind you — cut him the first time.

But he has a legit shot of filling the vacancy created by the anticipated absence, and he doesn't even care it's probably not fair to deem him Harpring's possible replacement.

"Matt had a terrific time here," Dupree said of a fan favorite respected for his toughness and honest effort during his seven seasons in Utah. "I kind of want that to be me now.

"Y'all can all me what you want, but I'm a guy that's going to be a positive influence on this team," the Mississippi native added. "I'm here to do the dirty work. So label me the 'dirty-work' guy. Whatever. I'm just ready to play."

But with ex-Memphis and Miami power forward Alexander Johnson, undrafted Marquette guard Wes Matthews and Utah State product Spencer Nelson all also among those free agents in camp who are cognizant that, as Sloan said, "there's (a roster) opening," Dupree isn't about to be handed anything.

It's simply not the Sloan way.

The undrafted Louisiana State University product learned that in July 2003, when he didn't last past two-a-day workouts for the Jazz's Rocky Mountain Revue team.

"I never heard of a guy getting cut in summer league," Dupree said.

Yet he's one who was.