Scott Padgett caught a lucky break in the truest sense of the word last summer, when Jazz rookie Curtis Borchardt suffered a stress fracture in his right foot.

In these days of fiscal restraint in the NBA, the Jazz had planned to go with the minimum of 12 players this season. And with 12 players already signed to guaranteed contracts, Padgett appeared to be the odd man out.

But when Borchardt and then Raul Lopez got injured, and the Jazz knew both would start the season on the injured list, they needed two more players.