Offseason has been soap opera News Portland Trail Blazers

A prospective backup point guard, Eric Maynor, gets drafted. Starting power forward Carlos Boozer opts in for the final season of his current contract, then immediately heads to the trade block. Starting center Mehmet Okur and backup shooting guard Kyle Korver opt against exercising their early termination option on their contracts, then Okur extends and Korver expresses desire to do the same. Backup power forward Paul Millsap signs an offer sheet with Portland, leaving the Jazz to spend the week deciding whether to match.

If this offseason seems like the soap opera that won't end ? and, really, it has been ? then the summer of 2012 should be quite a sequel. That, after all, is when Okur's contract now will expire ? and when starting point guard Deron Williams, who has watched things unfold the past several weeks with keen interest, must decide if he'll exercise his fourth-season option on the contract he extended last offseason. It's by design, Williams suggested while offering his take on the state of the Jazz over the weekend, that after three more seasons in Utah he'll have a chance to assess his own future with the franchise. "That's why I took the shorter deal ? just to see where we're at as a team, just to see where we're going," said Williams, who could have extended for as many as five years. "I hope we're going the right direction. You know, the organization always has done the right thing, has always wanted to be a contender, always wanted to compete. "Memo's deal is up the same time as mine," he added. "That definitely will have a little weight on what I do at that time. But that's so far from now." The Jazz's immediate future, he suggests, offers more than enough intrigue for the time being. Will they deal Boozer? Indications Monday were that they haven't ruled it out, but ? unhappy with the quality of trade offers they're currently receiving ? the possibility remains that the Jazz would start the season with the two-time NBA All-Star on their roster. Will they match Portland's four-year, $32 million offer to Millsap? It seemed likelier than not Monday, even if they don't trade Boozer this week, but nothing on that front is guaranteed. Will they do enough to keep their star point not only content, but smiling wide? Williams knows the hurdles Utah's front office has had to face this season. "We were in a tough position this year, with guys being able to opt in and opt out. A lot of it really wasn't in ( Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor's) control," he said. "He (O'Connor) had to kind of wait and sit back and see what happens because he couldn't really do anything," Williams added. "So, hopefully he'll make the best decisions for the organization, which I know he will. It's a long offseason, so a lot of things can happen." Williams has made it known multiple times that he wants a voice in the Jazz's future, and since reiterating that earlier this offseason he's evidently been granted one. Williams said he's spoken with Jazz family ownership rep Greg Miller, that he's had discussions on "multiple occasions" with O'Connor and that he remains in "constant contact" with Jazz brass. "It's going to be an interesting summer ? the whole rest of the summer," he said. "I know they're constantly working deals, constantly weighing their options. So, they'll take care of it." As for his opinion on Boozer's fate, Williams ? speaking before teeing off a charity golf tournament he hosted Saturday at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi ? steered clear of what evidently is a sensitive subject. "I haven't talked to him," Williams said when asked to assess Boozer's mindset. "I really don't know. "I mean ? he's on our team. So hopefully his mindset is winning a championship." Williams ? who hastened to add it's not abnormal for some teammates to go an entire offseason without communicating ? did, however, have plenty to say regarding a match for Millsap. "Hopefully we can keep him here, because I want him here with me," he said. "He's a big part of our core. You know, he's so young (24). His ceiling is so high. He can only get better," Williams added. "And I know how hard he works, and how much he wants to be a great player in this league. So you never worry about a guy like that getting complacent or being happy with where he's at." MISC.: The Millsap decision won't be relayed from the Jazz to the Trail Blazers until the end of the week. ? The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Boozer was a no-show Sunday for both a charity Basketball game co-hosted by Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade in Miami, and for preceding media availability. But he did attend a related comedy show and golf event late last week, and he told the newspaper at the latter that he and USA Basketball Olympic teammate Wade "talk every week." ? According to MLive.com, ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher reported via his Twitter account that one proposed deal which since has fallen apart would have sent Boozer to Detroit, Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince to Portland and both Trail Blazers guard Jerryd Bayless and a trade exception to Utah. . . . "According to a person involved in the process," cbssports.com reported late Wednesday, "Boozer's camp has explored trade possibilities with Miami, (New York), Golden State and Detroit among others." e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com