SALT LAKE CITY -- Jazz coach Jerry Sloan had no trouble enumerating the reasons why he's glad Paul Millsap is on his team, and not on the Portland Trail Blazers.
"He works hard in practice, he doesn't screw around in practice, he works hard all the time," Sloan said before Wednesday morning's workout. "Guys like to play with people like that."
Tonight, the hard-working Millsap and his Jazz teammates will play host to the Trail Blazers for a preseason game at EnergySolutions Arena.
Had things worked out a bit differently over the summer, Millsap would have come in as the enemy.
Instead, he remains with the team that selected him in the second round of the 2006 NBA draft, the team that took a chance on an undersized power forward from Louisiana Tech.
And now his financial future looks awfully bright.
In July, the Blazers signed Millsap to a four-year, $32 million offer sheet, which the Jazz matched a week later.
Included in the deal was a $10.3 million signing bonus.
"All I could do was sit back and wait until everything was said and done," Millsap said. "That's all I had to do: be patient and wait for things to work out."
And now that he's still in Utah, still playing for the Jazz?
"I'm just glad to be here, just glad to be with these guys," he said.
Millsap's coach and teammates feel the same way.
"He worked when he first got here," Sloan said. "He had to earn whatever he's got and now you're happy for him."
Jazz point guard Deron Williams has played alongside Millsap for three seasons and during that time the two have become close friends. He said Millsap called him after signing Portland's offer sheet, but it was difficult to get a read on his emotions.
"That's pretty much Paul," he said. "Even if he is freaking out, you're not going to know too much. But I know he wanted to be back here. He had to do what was right. He did the right thing."
When Millsap signed his new deal with the Jazz, it appeared he would soon become their starting power forward.
However, rather than test the free agent market, veteran Carlos Boozer opted to return to the Jazz for the final year of his six-year, $68 million contract.
There was plenty of offseason trade talk, but nothing came of it.
Now, Millsap remains Boozer's backup, at least for the time being.
"A lot of people look at him as a backup or a role player. I don't," Williams said. "I think he can be more than that, I've seen that in him."
Ironically, Millsap probably would have faced a similar situation in Portland, playing behind young star LaMarcus Aldridge.
"I feel like I can fit in anywhere," Millsap said. "I believe (the Blazers) would have found time for me. But it's the same scenario here if you look at it.
"I'm really not paying too much attention to who's starting and who's not starting. However I get in, that's how I'm going to get in."
While he might appreciate his attitude, Williams sympathizes with Millsap's situation.
"It's tough either way, but like I've said, we've got to find ways to play Paul," Williams said. "He deserves to be on the floor. Offensively and defensively. We need him here for the future, he's a big part of our plans for the future."
* JAZZ NOTES: Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko has been given a leave of absence to return to Russia for a family matter. He is expected to miss tonight's game and Saturday's road game with the Los Angeles Clippers. ... WSU coach Randy Rahe and his coaching staff attended Wednesday's Jazz practice at Zions Bank Basketball Center.
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