BOISE — In his short NBA career, Michael Ruffin has found out the hard way that promises are a lot like free rides.
There are none.
Ruffin was selected at No. 32 overall in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft, three spots shy of securing the minimum three years' worth of guaranteed money that goes to all first-round picks.
The Tulsa University product lasted only two seasons with the Chicago Bulls, then just 15 games with Philadelphia in late 2001 before shipping out for a season-and-a-half with Caprabo Lledia of the Spanish League.
In Utah, his job security is no more certain.
The Jazz signed Ruffin as a free agent last August, but — it has been learned since training camp recently opened — his one-year, $663,679 contract is only partially guaranteed.
That means Ruffin is assured of a portion of the money if he is still on the roster after a certain date in November, but the deal becomes fully guaranteed only if he is still with Utah when the NBA's deadline for guaranteeing all contracts passes in early January.
With no more lucrative NBA offers on the table at the time he signed, it's a pact Ruffin grabbed at without reservation.
"I kind of felt like this was a good opportunity for me," the Denver native said of joining a rebuilding Jazz team that lost longtime power forward Karl Malone to free agency in July.
"I just wanted to roll my dice," added Ruffin, a 6-foot-9 big man who can play both power forward and some at center, "and take my chances here."
Almost two weeks into camp, however, the stress of a partially guaranteed deal's uncertainty seems to be weighing on Ruffin a bit.
"I probably think about it more than I should," he said. "I just need to go out there and just really play, and kind of let that take care of itself.
"Because I don't have the final say over whether or not I'm here," he added. "All I can control is how I play on the floor."
Heading into the Jazz's third game of the preseason, tonight vs. the New York Knicks here in Boise, Ruffin has been on that floor only sparingly.
He did log nine minutes in Utah's exhibition opener against Dallas in Mexico City, scoring four points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field and pulling down three rebounds in a 90-85 Jazz win. But he lasted only four scoreless, no-rebound minutes in Utah's 90-89 victory over Seattle last Saturday night, exiting and not returning after picking up two quick fouls in the opening quarter.
"I think he's a very conscientious guy, and wants to do well," coach Jerry Sloan of Ruffin, whom the Jazz signed on the strength of his standout play in last July's Rocky Mountain Revue summer league. "(But) I think he takes himself out of it a little bit by trying to over-think what's going on.
"You've just got to relax and try to play," Sloan added. "Because he played a lot more relaxed in the summer — going after the ball, (playing) really strong defensively. Those are things he's got to do."
They're certainly things of which he is quite capable.
In fact, Ruffin's college coach, Bill Self, once called Tulsa's all-time leading rebounding and shot-blocker "the best defender I've ever coached."
Ruffin knows that is his game, which makes the fact he so far is not showing enough of it that much more maddening.
"It gets frustrating at times, when I don't feel like I'm playing up to the level that I know I can play at," he said. "But (you) just have to keep kind of playing through it."
Ruffin did survive the Jazz's first round of camp cuts Monday, and it seems quite likely he will be on Utah's opening-night, 14-man roster come Oct. 29.
Still, the Academic All-American chemical engineering major seems to know he must ratchet up his play if he is to last long enough to get his contract fully guaranteed come January.
"I'm playing," Ruffin said, "for more than just an opportunity to be on the team, you know? I want to contribute.
"I've been trying to stay with the same mindset all summer, and that's just to come out here and try to improve in everything I do," he added. "I feel like if I come out here and work hard every day, and continue to improve, then everything else will take care of itself."
It could, especially with disgruntled big man John Amaechi traded to Houston just before camp opened, center Curtis Borchardt out for at least all of the preseason with a fracture in his hand and power forward/center Jarron Collins coming off reconstructive knee surgery.
"I feel like I have opportunities," Ruffin said, "to play significant minutes — if I come out and play the way I'm capable of playing."
That's no promise.
In Michael Ruffin's guarantee-free world, it's an equal mix of high hopes and good intentions.
E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com