Although he had concerns about the Jazz's direction -- Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver all can opt out of their contracts next summer -- Williams ultimately concluded that the team's "track record speaks for itself.

"There's not many questions to ask, there's not much to doubt," Williams said. "You know that they're focused on winning a championship and you can see that with the recent signings and moves that we've made. I have the utmost confidence in them."

The Jazz have had only one losing season in Jerry Sloan's two decades as coach. Unless they make a trade, however, the Jazz will face luxury-tax concerns in the 2009-10 season, when Williams' extension kicks in.

They have more than $44 million committed to three players that season -- Williams, Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko -- and have $65 million committed to six players. That doesn't include the extensions Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap are due as early as next summer.

Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said there was no disappointment in Williams opting for the shorter extension than one for the full five years, noting that another presidential election will have passed by the time Williams is a free agent.

Williams, meanwhile, preferred to look at the extension as a five-year window for the Jazz to win a championship. The Jazz have won 50-plus games the past two seasons as well as three playoff series while boasting one of the NBA's youngest rosters.

"I think we're very close," Williams said. "I think we've improved every year, we just ran into some teams that maybe had a little edge on us, and hopefully we can tighten up some things this year defensively. I think that's going to be a big key to our success."