They'll continue to be the Hornets, at least for next season.

Though the Hornets are moving to New Orleans, they will keep their nickname at least through the 2002-2003 season, according to team spokesman Harold Kaufman.

The team has made no decision about whether to find a nickname more appropriate to New Orleans, although team co-owner Ray Wooldridge has been quoted in New Orleans media as saying he'd be delighted to take the name "Jazz" if the franchise in Utah is willing to give up that name. The Jazz moved to Utah from New Orleans after the 1978-79 season and kept the nickname.

They'll continue to be the Hornets, at least for next season.

Though the Hornets are moving to New Orleans, they will keep their nickname at least through the 2002-2003 season, according to team spokesman Harold Kaufman.

The team has made no decision about whether to find a nickname more appropriate to New Orleans, although team co-owner Ray Wooldridge has been quoted in New Orleans media as saying he'd be delighted to take the name "Jazz" if the franchise in Utah is willing to give up that name. The Jazz moved to Utah from New Orleans after the 1978-79 season and kept the nickname.

Raul Lopez, the Jazz's first-round draft choice in 2001, is close to announcing his plans to join the Jazz for the 2002-03 season, according to Gigantes del Basket, a Spanish magazine that has followed Lopez's efforts to be freed from his contract with Real Madrid.
   
Lopez's team recently was eliminated from the playoffs. He had rejoined Real Madrid for the playoffs after a lengthy rehabilitation from knee surgery.

After three years at one of college basketball's most highly regarded programs, Carlos Boozer knows all about big-time.
     
Last year, he played for an NCAA national-title winner. This year, he won Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament MVP honors.
   
High-stakes games? Tough workouts? Dealing with obnoxious media?
     
Boozer ? a potential first-round selection who could be available when the Jazz pick 19th overall in the June 26 NBA Draft ? has been there, done all that.
     
No wonder, then, that after auditioning for Jazz brass Tuesday morning at the Delta Center the Duke University product seemed to be in prime big-timing mode.
     
"As far as just the game ? you know, playing basketball ? I think I definitely learned a lot from Coach K (Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski) in that setting," Boozer said shortly before abruptly cutting short a one-on-one media interview that followed a personal pre-draft workout with the Jazz.

Jazz officials kicked off their Memorial Day weekend last Friday with a roundtable discussion that set their course for a busy summer.

When it was over, they had nearly as many question marks as before -- and what they did figure out, they"re not telling.

""We sat down and discussed some stuff, but that"s something we"re going to be pretty closed-mouth about," said Kevin O"Connor, the Jazz vice president of basketball operations.

""I don"t think it"s fair to us and I don"t think it"s fair to the players to speculate. (The media) can go ahead and speculate, but we"re not going to give you any ammunition to speculate on."

Not only do the Jazz have eight free agents to contend with beginning July 1, including forwards Donyell Marshall and Bryon Russell, questions hover over two players they do have under contract for next season -- stars John Stockton and Karl Malone -- with Stockton contemplating retirement and Malone contemplating a possible trade request.

In the last few years, the Jazz have drafted young international players with upside even though the players were signed to long-term contracts. The Jazz had enough veterans to fill out their roster and didn't want the salary of the first-round pick taking valuable cap space. Instead, the Jazz's plan was to keep the players overseas, let them get playing time and wait for a roster slot to open up before bringing them over.

"The whole dynamics of the draft has changed," Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor said. "Now you worry about more than just who you draft. You also worry about their development. Good teams don't have a lot minutes for rookies. Perhaps the best move we made was keeping Kirilenko in Russia an extra year. That made a huge difference in what he was able to contribute this year."

Jazz free-agent forward Donyell Marshall underwent surgery Wednesday in California to repair his damaged right wrist.

Marshall did not miss any games due to the wrist this past season, though he was limited to 58 games by calf, groin and hip injuries.

...

Jazz basketball operations vice president Kevin O'Connor has been busy preparing for the June 26 NBA Draft.

O'Connor was in Phoenix on Tuesday, when he and scouts from at least two other teams (the Suns and Houston) watched 6-foot-6 combo guard Jiri Welsch work out.

Jazz forward Donyell Marshall had surgery on his right wrist Wednesday to repair minor damage.

Marshall, who becomes a free agent on July 1, was bothered by soreness in his wrist much of the season and Jazz doctors recommended surgery. The operation was performed by a wrist specialist in Los Angeles.

The surgery was considered routine and Marshall was back in Utah on Thursday, watching the Utah Starzz game.

Nine years after leaving Long Beach State, Jazz forward Bryon Russell will receive his college degree.

Russell, three courses short of completing a bachelor's degree in criminal justice when he entered the NBA, recently served an internship with the South Salt Lake police to fulfill course requirements.

"I was a student before I became a professional athlete," Russell said. "The possibility of entering the NBA didn't come until my senior year at Long Beach. Up until that point, I considered a career in law. My degree was always important to me, and it was something I needed to complete."

First in a three-part series

Until very recently, the job of the Utah Jazz marketing department was simple: Print the tickets and watch the crowds flock to buy them.

That was high tide for the Jazz franchise, a stretch of several years in which the team was a legitimate contender and the arena was full nearly every night.

Now that the team is struggling to remain competitive, the marketing department's job is much tougher. Now they're trying to keep low tide from getting too low.

"We want to slow the erosion, instead of just letting it flood," said Jay Francis, Jazz senior vice president for marketing.

The erosion is a fact, as evidenced by a string of four straight years in which attendance has declined. In the season recently completed, the Jazz averaged 18,686, with just five 19,911 sellouts ? their fewest since the 1984-85 season.