Pete Chilcutt has experienced a fair share of losing the past few years.
The one thing he has hasn't lost, though, is what made his decision to join the Jazz so simple: A will to win.Chilcutt has done it before, playing on the University of North Carolina's 1991 Final Four team and winning an NBA title with the Houston Rockets in 1995. Now, having signed a one-year contract with the Jazz on Sunday, he is anxious to do it again.
"For me, it was a no-brainer to come to a team like this," said Chilcutt, a 6-11, 240-pound free agent forward/center who arrived just in time for media-day activities Monday afternoon at the Delta Center and the start of training camp Tuesday morning at Boise State University.
Chilcutt wasn't referring merely to the fact that he had no other offers on the table last week, which is when the Jazz approached him about filling the roster vacancy created by swingman Shandon Anderson's curious decision to sign with the Rockets for less money than the Jazz were willing to pay.
"This is my ninth year in the league," said Chilcutt, a former first-round draft choice of Sacramento's who has played for four teams in his eight NBA seasons. "I did play on a championship team in Houston, but I've been on some pretty bad teams for the majority of my career, so I definitely look forward to getting back on the winning side."
Chilcutt spent the last three seasons as a reserve forward in Vancouver, where the Grizzlies won only 41 games during his stay. He welcomes a switch to Salt Lake City, even if it means playing a bit role as a backup to two-time NBA MVP Karl Malone.
"Obviously, you know Mailman's going to get the majority of minutes," said Chilcutt, who played 697 minutes in 46 games during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. "But if I can come in and provide some quality offense, or defense -- whatever's needed -- I'll be glad to do it."
If he does what he intends, Chilcutt won't be the only one who is happy.
"We really didn't have another power forward . . . outside of Karl, and we wanted somebody who could fill that position," said Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz's new vice president of basketball operations.
The Jazz were also looking for a big man who shoots from the outside, and Chilcutt fits the bill.
With a three-point percentage of .382 (26-of-68) last season, the 31-year-old South Carolina native was Vancouver's most-accurate marksman from behind the arc. He can also fill in, if needed, in the pivot, though the likelihood of that happening is one O'Connor said is best left to Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.
Either way, O'Connor believes that with the signing of Chilcutt and fellow off-season acquisition Olden Polynice, the club has adequately addressed its front-line personnel needs.
"I think we added the shooting we wanted," he said, "and we added the rebounding we wanted."
All of which is enough, Chilcutt hopes, to get the Jazz where he wants to go.
Back to the NBA Finals, that is.
Chilcutt knows the task won't be easy, even for a team loaded with as many quality veterans as the Jazz have.
The loss of Anderson, Chilcutt agrees, may sting more than some realize. "Shandon did provide a good option off the bench," he said. But the addition of Polynice should aid what many in the NBA seem to think was the Jazz's weakest link a season ago.
"Looking at it as an outsider," Chilcutt said, "the only thing I saw they needed to improve was at center."
With all due respect to returning starting center Greg Ostertag, Chilcutt agrees with O'Connor that the addition of Polynice will go a long way toward that end: "Now," he said, "they have a pretty potent 1-2 punch in the middle."
And that's no jab.
It's just saying it straight, right from a guy who weighs in with the stuff winners are made of.
"I think it's the kind of person he is," O'Connor said in defining what may be Chilcutt's greatest attribute. "He adds character to a team that has a lot of character."
SIMS IN CAMP: The Jazz made another addition to their camp roster, bringing in point guard Alvin Sims.
The 1997 University of Louisville product played four games for Phoenix last season while auditioning for the role of backup to floor leader Jason Kidd and was named CBA Rookie of the Year after playing for Quad Cities in '97-98.
The Jazz's camp roster now stands at 19.
PETE CHILCUTT
POSITION: Forward/center.
NBA SEASONS: Eight.
PREVIOUS TEAMS: Sacramento, Detroit, Houston, Vancouver.
COLLEGE: North Carolina.
HIGH SCHOOL: Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Academy.
BORN: Sept. 14, 1968, in Sumter, S.C.
DID YOU KNOW?: Chilcutt was traded from Sacramento to Detroit along with a 1994 second-round draft pick and a conditional first-round pick for . . . new Jazz center Olden Polynice.