The Jazz essentially reached an agreement in principle with 6-foot-7 swingman Calbert Cheaney on Wednesday and hoped to have the Denver Nuggets free agent signed as early as this morning.
The nine-season NBA veteran and former Associated Press College Player of the Year at the University of Indiana comes with a reputation for solid, albeit not long-distance, shooting.
"I think the fact he shot 48 percent on a team (Denver) that didn't win a lot of games is something that tells you that he's gonna care about whether you win or lose," Jazz basketball operations vice president Kevin O'Connor said Wednesday night.
Cheaney has a career scoring average of 10.9 points, including 7.3 for the Nuggets last season.
He didn't make any of his four three-point attempts in 2001-2002 but is a career 46.4 percent shooter and scored in double figures for his first five NBA seasons, all part of a six-season stay in Washington.
"Is he a three-point shooter? No. Is he a good open-floor shooter? Yes," O'Connor said. "I think we get too hung up on being three-point shooters instead of good shooters, and I think he's a good shooter."
The Jazz hope the 31-year-old Cheaney can contribute at both the shooting guard and small forward positions, and help provide veteran leadership for a team expected to have at least five players (DeShawn Stevenson, Andrei Kirilenko, Jarron Collins, Raul Lopez and Curtis Borchardt) with two or fewer seasons of prior NBA experience.
"We're trying to build underneath," O'Connor said, "but I think (with) the fact we have John (Stockton) at the point, and Karl (Malone at power forward) . . . it's real important that we get somebody who knows how to play, especially with those two."
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com