Even after the Jazz make the 23rd selection in tonight's NBA Draft, don't look for Kevin O'Connor to pass out cigars.
But don't be shocked, either, if O'Connor takes a step back, cracks a smile and beams like a proud papa.
This draft is his baby — O'Connor's first leaving his post last summer as director of player personnel of the Philadelphia 76ers to become vice president of basketball operations for the Jazz, and his first as the primary man making the picks after stints as a scout for New Jersey, Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers, and from 1994-97, a regional scout for the Jazz themselves.
O'Connor, in his usual understated sort of way, downplays the role he has.
"I was part of the one in Philly; I was part of the suggestion-making," he said. "Now, you're (doing) a little more decision-making."
A lot, actually.
With the 76ers, despite O'Connor's title and the presence of general manager Billy King, there was no question where the buck really stopped on personnel matters including the draft: smack dab in the lap of head coach Larry Brown.
"Billy, I and he sat down and did it, but Larry pulled the plug," said O'Connor, who had input on a 1999 draft in which Philadelphia had no first-round pick but did take 7-foot University of Washington center Todd MacCulloch with the No. 47 overall selection.
In Utah, where the Jazz also have the No. 50 (second-round) pick tonight, things are quite different.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has quite a loud voice on personnel matters, one that can range all the way from veto power to, in many instances, making the actual call itself. When it comes to the draft, however, Sloan admits to being little more than a very-interested observer.
"I'm sure they'll pick the right guy for our team," he said of O'Connor and his staff of scouts, which is headed by assistant coach/director of scouting Dave Fredman.
Sloan drove recently from his Illinois farm to Salt Lake City, with a stop in Arizona to tend to family matters, to attend a private workout for prospects that the Jazz held Monday. He has spoken with a few potential selections and will be on hand for the draft itself tonight to act as a sounding board for O'Connor.
Otherwise, though, Sloan professes to know about this year's likely draftees. O'Connor, on the other hand, seems as well-versed in draft ins-and-outs as anyone. And he loves every minute of it.
"If it's not fun now, it's never going to be fun," the Bronx-born, Staten Island-raised New York native said. "You've got to love being around the kind of kids who have come in here and interviewed — and having the opportunity to make them millionaires."
O'Connor harvests much of his knowledge base first-hand, reverting to his former days as a scout by getting out on the road more than most NBA executives in his position.
O'Connor has flown overseas, attended conference tournaments and hit all the big combine gatherings. He's seen basketball games here, there and everywhere over the past 10 months. But that's not all. He actively seeks input and opinion from Fredman, who spends most of the NBA season out-and-about himself, watching everyone from college seniors to high school kids.
And then there is the film: The Jazz has an extensive collection of videotape footage on all of the draft's prospects, some going as far as four years back, and all gathered by video coordinator/scout Richard Smith.
Just as important, though, is meeting kids up close-and-personal, which O'Connor does both while traveling and with prospects who are invited to Salt Lake City.
"We try to get to know their character, and as a person, as well as how they react," he said of the private workouts. "I don't think anybody is going to judge Jason Collier (a 7-foot center from Georgia Tech) on 30 minutes of a workout. We've got 77 films in there on him.
"But I think what we do try and judge is their ability to handle our coaching (and) to handle our style. Because we're not going to change."
The Jazz check out everything from personality to personal habits.
"What are they looking for out of life? Are they willing to pay the price?" said O'Connor, who was hired after Scott Layden left to become GM of the New York Knicks. "Let's see how they handle the coaching from us. . . . see how quickly they pick up things, see how quickly they assimilate to what they're listening to. See if they tuck their shirt in, like Coach Sloan wants them to do."
After considering all of that and more, O'Connor must make a decision. In the end, this call — he grudgingly admits — is his.
"I think with a draft pick like this it would be," said O'Connor, who insists on speaking collectively rather than singularly.
"We visit Coach Sloan to make sure he's comfortable, and certainly keep Larry Miller abreast — he owns the team. But with a draft pick like that, and with the consideration that we're not trading assets, so to speak . . . I think we're able to make that one."
For better, or worse, this really is O'Connor's baby. But, he insists, it is not his first.
"I though the two in Philadelphia were, too," he said. "I think anytime you're involved in it, you have to step up and say, 'Hey, I'm part of it.' Whatever part you are, if you're part of it, it's, 'Hey, this is it.' "
Even O'Connor, though, knows this is the one he will take home. With blue blanket waiting, he accepts that responsibility.
"You either get the blame," O'Connor said, "or you get the credit."
The former, should need be, he can deal with. The latter, in his usual understated sort of way, O'Connor would just as soon defer to someone else.
"Give me the blame," he said, "or give Jerry (Sloan) the credit."
But whatever you do, forget about the cigars.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com