Jazz guard Devin Harris discusses adding Josh Howard.

First thought: It’s exciting. We’ve been close friends for a while, since the Dallas days. He’s a guy who can really help this team and I’m just excited to have one of my close friends back on the team.

What worked well in Dallas: We did [do well]. We came in together, both young players, learned the system, played a lot, played extremely well, just built a relationship over the years.

Kevin O’Connor and Ty Corbin asking him about Howard: Obviously he’s got some things in his past and I thought he’d matured since then and I thought he was a player who could really help us. He’s coming off an injury the last couple of years with a knee, but I’ve been working out with him in the summer and know he’s fully back. I thought he’s a guy who could really help this team and take us to the next level.

Howard’s character: Josh is a good dude. He’s truthful. He’s a guy who believes in speaking his mind. Obviously that doesn’t always sit well with a lot of people. But he’s a good teammate, he comes and works hard and loves what he does.

Good fit on roster: I think so. He meets the athleticism with this team, the way we’re running, the way we want to get up and down; his defensive intensity. And he cares about winning.

Jazz’s offense compared to Dallas’: Aw, it’s completely — it’s like night and day. But I still think he fits in to what we do. He’s got a nice post game, the mid-range game and the way he runs the floor fits in everything we do.

Talking to him: We actually talked about it a little bit this summer, the possibility. … Coming into free agency, the lockout, it’s a possibility. Yeah, we’ve got some room up here. I didn’t expect anything to happen. But it kind of happened pretty quickly and I’m excited about it.

Talking to O’Connor: Yeah, I sat down with Kevin before he went to North Carolina. He wants to see how his knee is doing; mentally over the injuries and stuff like that.

Get better fast if Howard’s healthy: I think so. We get a little bit deeper. With him, our depth increases. And with the season that we’re going to have, I think that’ll really help us.

Left in the tank: I think he’s got a lot. He hasn’t played a lot in the last couple years. I think he should be refreshed.

Brian T. Smith

Twitter: @tribjazz

SALT LAKE CITY — Coming into camp, Jazz center Al Jefferson felt better physically than he had in a long time, maybe ever.

Big Al spent most of the extended offseason on a workout mission in Santa Barbara. While dropping fat and adding muscle, the 280-pound Jefferson spent so much time at the Jazz-recommended P3 performance facility, he could give tours.

“The only good thing about the offseason going longer,” Jefferson said, “was that it was just more time for me to work and get better.”

The Jazz are excited to reap the rewards of Jefferson’s working vacation in SoCal.

“His work in the summer’s really showing,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said.

Utah worked mostly on defensive adjustments the first couple of practices, and Jefferson has shown more agility and athleticism while rotating and getting back on D.

He’s sacrificing his body a bit, too.

Corbin said Jefferson took three charges in the first two sessions.

“I don’t remember him taking many charges at all last year,” a smiling Corbin said. “His position is better. He feels good about how he can move and react and get back to one spot, and (has) quickness of doing both.”

Email: jody@desnews.com. Twitter: DJJazzyJody

SALT LAKE CITY — For a guy who enjoyed extra time off this summer and fall by fishing, spending quality time with his family, and living and playing in Miami, Raja Bell might surprise some people with how happy he is to be in Utah for the winter.

South Beach and kids’ soccer games can wait for warmer times next year.

For now, Bell is in another favorite spot doing another of his favorite things — running around a gym playing hoops.

“It’s now time to get back to basketball,” he said. “And I’m excited.”

Not just to play, though.

Bell is excited to contribute.

He wants his presence to be felt.

The savvy 35-year-old veteran is here to make a bigger difference on a team that can use all of the savvy positive influence it can get after last season’s turmoil.

“Last year,” he said, “was a difficult year.”

But it began with high expectations and optimism after he rejoined the Jazz and walked away from a potential gig with the Lakers.

Bell had missed most of the previous season with a wrist injury, and the Jazz seemed to be a perfect fit for him to get his career back on track.

Whether it was due to rustiness, Father Time catching up or fill-in-the-blank, Bell didn’t have the type of season in 2010-11 that the Jazz, fans or he would have preferred.

“I just felt like I never really found a solid footing,” Bell said. “I just felt a little uncomfortable in what was going on, the way we played.”

It wasn’t just disappointing because his shooting percentages slipped, which they did. Case in point: Bell’s 40.9 percent accuracy mark from the field was the lowest since his first Utah season in 2003-04 (40.9 percent). His 3-point shooting (35.2 percent) was the lowest since his rookie season (33.3).

The falling numbers don’t sit well with him, of course. But they could have been worse. Trust him, he knows.

“I’m as tough on myself as anybody,” Bell said.

More bothersome than shooting woes was not finding a way to do and help more.

That gave his critics matches and fuel for their ire.

It’s also lit his fire for making the most of this season, his second in a three-year, $9 million deal with the Jazz.

“I just know that I have to find a better way to impact what’s going on, on the court,” Bell said. “Whatever that is, whether that’s hustling or playing defense, having more or less shot attempts.

“Whatever it is,” he added, “I’ve got to find a way to have more of an impact. Because, ultimately, that’s what it’s about.”

Some fans might have jumped off the Bell bandwagon, but Jazz management hasn’t.

They still believe he can make that positive impact — on and off the court.

Both Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor and coach Tyrone Corbin complimented the physical condition of Bell, who aced the team’s treadmill test.

SALT LAKE CITY — Having seen a few players around town the past few days, Utah Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin feels good about their physical shape heading into Friday’s camp opener.

And general manager Kevin O’Connor believes the Jazz will be a competitive, underdog team, and he doesn’t sound like a guy on the verge of trading either Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap or anybody else.

The biggest could-be news to come out of a pre-camp press conference this afternoon, however, was that the Jazz might enter this season with yet another new coach.

O’Connor and Corbin confirmed a big-man coach might be hired to help with the development of Utah’s post players, especially promising youngsters Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter.

“There may be an opportunity for us to add somebody to this staff,” Corbin said. “We’ll make the announcement shortly if we get the chance to do it. It’d have to be soon, because we want to try to get everything tied up.”

Soon, as in by Friday when players will report in the late afternoon for Day 1 of the condensed camp.

“I think we’ll do something pretty quick,” O’Connor admitted. “I would look at trying to do something sooner than later. … If we went through training camp without one, then I wouldn’t want to go into it.”

Asked if the seemingly inevitable hire will be someone with Jazz ties, Corbin responded: “I don’t know. We’ll see.”

When Hall of Fame power forward Karl Malone ‘s name was mentioned, Corbin laughed and wondered if The Mailman would want to be tied down: “I’d have to call Karl. It’s a full-time job.”

Corbin hinted the hire might not necessarily be an in-game bench position, but rather an in-practice development coach.

“It would be (important). It would help us,” Corbin said. “It would give the staff that’s doing all the other stuff more time to focus in on that and the guy can really zoom in on developing guys.”

This summer, the Jazz hired former point guard and NBA head coach Sidney Lowe to be Corbin’s third assistant along with returners Scott Layden and Jeff Hornacek.

Email: jody@desnews.com, Twitter: DJJazzyJody

by

Tim Gillie

Tooele Transcript Bulletin

District won’t allow program into school gyms because of unpaid usage fees

While contract negotiations have delayed the start of the Utah Jazz season, a different contract dispute will prevent Tooele and Stansbury youth from suiting up for Junior Jazz this year.

The Tooele County School District announced last Friday that it has terminated its contract with Utah Sports Academy, the Layton-based nonprofit organization that has been running the Tooele and Stansbury Junior Jazz program since 2006. This effectively means most of the basketball courts in the county are no longer available to the county’s largest youth basketball program.

“The action was taken by the Board of Education as a result of an outstanding amount owed to the district for facility rentals from the 2010-11 Junior Jazz program,” said Terry Linares, Tooele County School District superintendent, in a prepared statement.

Utah Sports Academy owes the Tooele County School District $33,390, according to Linares.

“When outside groups use school facilities during hours when we would not ordinarily be open or have a custodian on duty, we charge a fee to recover the additional costs to the district,” said Linares.

Lewis Lofton, president of Utah Sports Academy, said those fees can’t be covered by participants alone without some additional funding.

“It is our sincere hope that some other entity will step forward and continue the Junior Jazz program,” said Lofton. “We have, however, notified the school district that unless the city, county and/or some other sponsor steps up to help supplement costs of the program, then it will be extremely difficult to remain viable.”

The $33,390 represents 927 hours of usage by the Junior Jazz program at $36 per hour during the 2010-11 season, according to Linares.

In past years, Utah Sports Academy paid usage fees at the end of the season. Last year, the school district did not receive a payment and despite several discussions that took place over the summer, the district has still not received payment, Linares said.

The school district raised its gym usage fee from $26 per hour to $36 per hour for the 2010-11 year to cover the rising cost of utilities and to incorporate the cost of custodial staff, said Linares. In response, Utah Sports Academy raised Junior Jazz registration fees from $80 to $100 per participant for the 2010-11 season, said Lofton.

However, enrollment in the Tooele/Stansbury Junior Jazz program declined by 25 percent, from 944 players to 708 players, according to Lofton, and Utah Sports Academy had difficulty collecting payment from 100 families with financial hardships.

The drop in enrollment was an unforeseen result of the fee increase, Lofton said.

Registration fees cover costs of court time use, liability insurance, Junior Jazz licensing fees, awards and referee costs, said Lofton.

Grantsville Junior Jazz, which is not connected with the Utah Sports Academy, was only charged $26 per hour for gym usage in 2010-11 and Lofton has asked the school district to adjust their bill and charge Tooele Junior Jazz the same rate.

“We gave Tooele Junior Jazz notice a year ago that the rate would be going up and we gave Grantsville that same notice this year,” said Linares. “I talked with Scott Bryan, board president, and the board is not interested in lowering the rate for Tooele Junior Jazz. The rate is based on what we need to collect to recoup our expenses. We have nothing against the Junior Jazz program and we are willing to work with another group that wants to run the program, but we will not contract with the Utah Sports Academy again. The district at this time is working hard to balance our own budget and we don’t have the room to absorb the cost of running Junior Jazz.”

The decision to discontinue renting to the current Junior Jazz program comes at a time when public health officials are clamoring to get youth more physically active to combat a rising epidemic of youth obesity. This year, the district also started charging local youth sports league $1 per player for the use of outdoor sports fields — a move that was criticized by some youth sports leaders.

Stansbury and Tooele high schools are making plans to expand their basketball camp program to fill the void left by the absence of the Junior Jazz program.

“Stansbury and Tooele high schools will take 100 youth per grade from first to 8th grade in their basketball camp programs,” said Ken Luke, Tooele County School District assistant superintendent. “The program will include three weeks of skills training and eight weeks of games.”

The basketball camps will not be affiliated with Junior Jazz and there will be a registration fee in the neighborhood of $65. Each high school will work with youth from the elementary schools that feed their school, Luke said.

“These programs will be ran by each high school and will not be a part of a districtwide effort,” said Luke. “It is an effort to reach out to youth that may be displaced by the loss of the Junior Jazz program in Tooele and Stansbury.”

The Grantsville Junior Jazz program is not affiliated with the Utah Sports Academy and will not be affected by the program change.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com