One contract is complete. The other should be soon.
Russian rookie Andrei Kirilenko has signed with the Jazz, basketball operations vice president Kevin O'Connor said Tuesday, and the team is confident veteran free agent John Stockton will do the same shortly.
Kirilenko, a 20-year-old forward who was one of the Jazz's three first-round draft choices in 1999, was scheduled to arrive in Utah from Russia on Monday night.
He comes as the proud owner of his first NBA contract, a guaranteed deal completed only after he and the Jazz secured his release from his former Russian team, CSKA Moscow.
"That's a done deal," O'Connor said of Kirilenko's Jazz contract, terms of which should conform to NBA standards for all first-round draft choices.
It is believed Kirilenko, selected 24th overall in '99, signed a rookie-scale contract worth $2.68 million over three seasons, plus a team option for a fourth season.
Meanwhile, Stockton is expected to re-sign with the Jazz sometime in the next week.
"I'd like to think we'd have it done by training camp," said O'Connor, who added Stockton already has met with Jazz owner Larry H. Miller since returning to Salt Lake City following his offseason break.
Stockton, the NBA's all-time assists and steals leader, is expected to accept a pay cut from $11 million last season to about $8 million in the coming season so that the Jazz will avoid paying a luxury tax potentially imposed by the league on teams that engage in payroll overspending.
He must re-sign before taking the floor for camp, which for Utah begins next Tuesday following a media-day session scheduled for Monday.
Stockton technically is free to sign with any NBA team, but his only serious alternative to not returning for an 18th season in Utah is retirement — and no one with the Jazz seems to believe the 39-year-old point guard is ready for that.
As the start of camp approaches, the Stockton matter is not the only one still facing O'Connor and the Jazz. A few others:
COURT CASE: The Jazz fully expect guard DeShawn Stevenson on hand next week, even though their first-round pick from a year ago still has pressing legal issues with which he must deal.
"The plan is for him to come into training camp," O'Connor said, "but this is still not over."
Stevenson — accused of engaging earlier this year in consensual sex with a 14-year-old female acquaintance in his hometown of Fresno, Calif. — is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 25, the date of the Jazz's final preseason game.
The charge against him was reduced from felony statutory rape to a misdemeanor during a hearing held last Thursday, but Stevenson still faces a potential sentence of up to one year in jail. Depending on the case's outcome, the 20-year-old also may face disciplinary action imposed by the NBA or Jazz.
"The big thing is he's on trial," O'Connor said, "and we've said all along that when it's done we'll evaluate the decision by the court, and we'll decide then how it should be handled."
EXTENSION TALKS: O'Connor said negotiations continue regarding potential contract extensions for swingman Bryon Russell and forward Donyell Marshall, but there is no pressing deadline for getting those deals done.
"We're still in conversations," said O'Connor, who is dealing with Dwight Manley, the agent for both players.
REPLACING FREDMAN: With the Jazz's camp roster set and the start of college basketball still several weeks away, O'Connor said the club is in no hurry, either, to name a successor to just-departed scouting director David Fredman.
"Time's a little bit on our side on that one," he said.
Fredman, a 27-year Jazz employee, started work Monday as assistant general manager of the Denver Nuggets.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com