Arenas' interest in the Nuggets grew when Denver drafted Anthony last week, according to Arenas' agent, Dan Fegan.

Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah and possibly Miami could be Arenas suitors, too. But drafting Anthony last week could aid Denver's potential pursuit of possibly the NBA's best young point guard.

July, not January, arrives when the clock strikes midnight in New York tonight, so there's no Times Square countdown to mark the occasion. But Karl Malone plans to celebrate just the same.

"I'll probably lower my guard and have me a big ol' stogie," Malone said in a KSL-TV interview last week. "We'll see what happens at 12:01."

What will probably happen at that hour -- actually, 10:01 p.m. MDT tonight, since the NBA runs on Eastern time -- is the phone will ring in an office in Southern California. Perhaps more than once.

And on the other end of at least one of those calls to Dwight Manley, Malone's agent, will be Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz's vice president of basketball operations.

"Absolutely. We're going to make contact just as soon as we're allowed to," O'Connor said. "Actually, I'll probably find out if Dwight wants to talk that late or wait until [Tuesday] morning, but we'll do whatever we have to [do] to make it clear that we want to get together just as soon as possible."

The witching-hour contact is entirely symbolic, since no NBA free agent can actually sign a contract until July 16. But considering what the Jazz are asking of the franchise's greatest scorer -- to take a huge pay cut and give up his championship ambitions in order to retire as a Jazzman -- symbols could be important.

The NBA draft is history, the annual player dstribution starting with "you know who" (LeBron James) and ending with "who"s he?" (Andreas Glyniadakis).

Somewhere in between, fans are hoping there"s a player with the potential to change things for their team immediately. But most of the players scooped up Thursday night fall into the project category simply because the age of draftees has dropped so sharply. And, despite the college hoops chest-pounders who did their best to turn ESPN"s windy draft coverage into a "listen to me shout" evening, the guys who stuck around four seasons in college are question marks until they demonstrate otherwise.

This week, however, the NBA player shuffling will get serious. Starting at midnight Tuesday, teams can officially start talking with free agents. On July 16, free agents can sign contracts. According to Jim Gray"s report Thursday night on ESPN, that is the day when Jason Kidd will announce where he plans to play next season.

If Karl Malone really does want to leave Utah ? he doesn't seem to be sure, at least not yet ? he will not want to be the one who first says his run here is done.

Malone wants to hear directly from the Jazz if they feel his departure would be best.

The Jazz, though, insist Malone must make the call ? if indeed the power forward really wants to go.

Participants included rapper/producers Warren G and Soopafly and several NBA stars, including the Washington Wizards' Bryon Russell and the Houston Rockets' Juaquin Hawkins, who both played at Cal State Long Beach, and DeShawn Stevenson of the Utah Jazz.

Mo Williams has no one to blame but himself. If he was drafted later than he wanted, if his basketball future is now a question mark, he should not be surprised.

Everyone told him so. At least everyone who knew anything.

Before the Chicago predraft camp, Williams sat in Alabama coach Mark Gottfried's office with Gottfried and an Alabama assistant. They listened over the speakerphone to Stu Jackson, the NBA's senior VP of basketball operations and head of the NBA's undergraduate advisory committee.

San Antonio will pursue Kidd but no other point guard except possibly for a reserve role. That leaves Denver and Utah as teams with a need at the position and spending power. Miller has been silver-plattered to the Jazz because he played at the University of Utah, a flimsy reasoning even in an era of nonexistent trades being handled as concrete possibilities. Likewise, Arenas has been linked to the Nuggets under the general impression that they are the only ones who can afford him. Everyone is wrong.

Normally at this time of year, Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller is able to chill. Not anymore. The NBA free agent market opens Tuesday, and for the first time in Miller's long tenure in Utah, which began in April 1985, the Jazz figure to be players.

Teams are allowed to contact free agents Tuesday, but no signings can take place until July 16. But you know how that goes. Nod. Wink. Done deal. The Jazz, Nuggets, and Spurs all should have well in excess of $10 million to spend on a free agent pool that includes Jason Kidd, Jermaine O'Neal, Michael Olowokandi, Gary Payton, Karl Malone, Juwan Howard, P.J. Brown, Brad Miller, and Alonzo Mourning. The Spurs already have Kidd lined up for a visit.

There are times still when the beauty of Utah astounds Antoine Carr.

A self-described "country boy," he often finds himself at the edge of a cool lake -- its calm disturbed only by Carr's fishing line -- resting in the midst of a postcard setting. There are tall trees, much taller mountains and high clouds drifting through the bluest of skies.

Yet surrounded by such glorious, bright colors, Carr's thoughts often turn black.

Thank goodness the basketball season ended before July 4th. Now the league can begin working towards next year. It lost a lot more than fan interest this season.

The National Basketball Association will never be the same again. After a brilliant Hall of Fame 19-year NBA career, John Houston Stockton has left the building. He left it just as he entered it, without a lot of noise, fanfare and without the farewell tour most old stars seem to demand.

Stockton left the game as the career leader in assists and steals. During his tenure with the Utah Jazz of all places, he had many other accomplishments, like being named one of the "50 Greatest Players in the NBA," a 10-time all-star selection, and a member of the two Olympic gold medal winning Dream Teams. However, the NBA championship eluded him. The little guy -- 6'1" tall and 175 pounds is little by professional basketball standards -- arrived in the NBA in 1984 and lasted until 2003. Nineteen years with the same team. That's as rare as an American marriage lasting longer than seven years.