TAYLORSVILLE — The kid already has signed his first NBA contract, the first season's pay is guaranteed, and his old man is still a wreck.
"He teases me that I'm more nervous than he is," Brett Vroman said of son Jackson, the Viewmont High product who after stops at Snow College and Iowa State University was selected in the second round of last June's NBA Draft.
Vroman is back home this week with his new team, Phoenix, playing for the Suns in the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league that runs through Saturday at Salt Lake Community College.
With his dad, who had an 11-game NBA stint with the Jazz during the 1980-81 season, and several friends and other family members watching from the stands Sunday at SLCC's Lifetime Activities Center, the 6-foot-10 Vroman scored 11 points, pulled down four rebounds and made a couple of steals in Phoenix's 94-89 loss to Chicago.
Beyond the numbers, though, it's the little things Vroman has done in his first two Revue games that has the bosses from Phoenix smiling.
"I like him because he's a hustler," said Marc Iavaroni, the former Jazz forward and current Suns assistant who is coaching Phoenix's summer club. "He's gonna play tough defense. He helps his teammates when they have a breakdown. He runs the floor really well. I think he's shown us the things we saw from him when he was at the collegiate level."
Vroman was the Big 12's leading rebounder with an average of 9.6 boards per game as an Iowa State senior, including a 19-rebound game against Kansas and a 20-rebound game in an NIT semifinal matchup with Rutgers.
He then lifted his stock even more by averaging 19.3 points and 8.3 rebounds at the Portsmouth Invitational, a postseason tournament camp for draft prospects on the bubble.
Vroman wound up being taken much earlier than most expected, second overall in the second round. And now the Suns consider him a keeper.
"There's always room for people who work hard," Iavaroni said. "There's always room for people who play team ball, and there's always room for somebody who's willing to play defense and provide some toughness."
Those are all parts of the reason the Suns have already signed Vroman for the 2004-05 season, even though second-rounders do not usually get guaranteed money until after proving themselves in their first summer league and fall camp.
Another is pure economics:
The Suns needed all the team payroll salary cap room they could get to make offers this month to unrestricted free agent Steve Nash, who already has left Dallas for Phoenix, and Quentin Richardson, the Los Angeles Clippers restricted free agent who has signed an offer sheet from Phoenix.
By giving relative pocket change (about $385,000) to the ex-Cyclone, more spending cash was left to splurge on more established NBA players.
Money matters, though, are not the issue for Vroman, who is happy just to get his shot.
"I can't imagine a better situation to fall into," he said. "The team needs some big men to step up, and they're giving me an opportunity."
An opportunity, that is, not only to play in the NBA, but also to make a certain papa proud.
"I think he has more emotion than I do some of the times out there," Jackson Vroman said of father Brett. "But it's fun for both of us."
Vroman's Suns get their shot at the Jazz in the Revue's final game, at 4 p.m. Saturday. Utah, which was idle Sunday, resumes summer-league play tonight, facing Denver at 8 p.m. in a game televised both locally on KJZZ and nationally on NBA TV.
In Sunday's other Revue games:
SAN ANTONIO 102, PORTLAND 79: Utah native Devin Brown scored 21 points on 9-of-17 field shooting to lead the Spurs, who had six scorers in double figures, including ex-Jazz summer camper Harold Jamison with 14. Darius Rice, who led the Trail Blazers with a game-high 28 points, shot 6-of-12 from 3-point range. Portland was without first-round draft choice Viktor Khryapa, who is out for the rest of the Revue with a severe foot sprain.
DENVER 87, DALLAS 79: The Nuggets improved to 2-0 behind 19 points from Nikoloz Tskitishvili, who also pulled down eight rebounds. Recently re-signed Marquis Daniels had 19 points and Devin Harris and Josh Howard added 18 apiece for the Mavericks.
CHARLOTTE 85, SEATTLE 63:Primoz Brezec had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to lead the 2-1 Bobcats. Damien Wilkins had a game-high 19 points for the Sonics, who committed 28 turnovers in 40 minutes. Charlotte was without guard Corey Benjamin, who reportedly is close to signing a contract with the Bobcats.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com