CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If Michael Jordan takes a job with Charlotte's NBA expansion team, he would run basketball operations -- a job originally earmarked for top executive Ed Tapscott.

"If Michael came aboard, he would be the president of basketball operations,'' new owner Robert Johnson said Thursday.

Tapscott, hired in January as the team "architect,'' said he would not have a problem working for Jordan.

Johnson wants Jordan as a partner or as an employee to be entrusted with the job of assembling the team that will begin play in the 2004-05 season.

"Definitely,'' Johnson said. "Not to do that would be like having the greatest chef in the world and telling him he's not allowed in the kitchen.''

That leaves Tapscott waiting in the pantry, uncertain of the exact scope of his future role as he continues to go about the day-to-day business of building an NBA team from the ground up -- everything from choosing a logo and a nickname, developing a marketing plan, selling luxury suites, securing office space, working on a naming rights deal for the team's new arena and hiring a staff.

"What's best for this franchise is to get this guy on board, and I'm all for that,'' Tapscott said. "It would be for me a privilege to work with the greatest name in basketball history, to have him here to develop this new entity.''

None of the latest Jordan developments come as a complete surprise to Tapscott, who knew when he took the job that there was an outside possibility Jordan might enter the picture. Although many people assumed Jordan would return to his old front office job with the Wizards, there was plenty of informed speculation things could go sour in Washington.

That's what happened, as Jordan's 3½-year tenure with the Wizards came to an acrimonious end on Wednesday when majority owner Abe Pollin told Jordan he did not want him as a part of the organization anymore.

Jordan's timetable for making a decision on his next career move is not known. His agent, David Falk, was unavailable for comment Thursday.

"When he is ready to sit down and talk business, I'll be here,'' Johnson said. "I am not under any pressure to rush this through, and he needs to decide what he wants to do. ... It's really `What does Michael want to do?' I know what I want to do.''

There are other NBA teams that might be a better fit for Jordan if his desire was to be a majority owner of a team. The Milwaukee Bucks are for sale and are located within driving distance of Jordan's home in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

Bucks owner Herb Kohl has said he would only be willing to sell the team to someone who would keep it in Milwaukee.

Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles in the 1990s, was the Wizards' president from January 2000 to September 2001 before coming out of retirement to play. His record was 110-179 as the top decision-maker, a role he kept even after returning as a player.

Johnson feels Jordan's presence would be a huge boost to his team, which will have to win back a disaffected fan base still bitter over the circumstances surrounding the loss of the Hornets to New Orleans.

Tapscott was Johnson's first significant hire, and he has learned that building an NBA team from the ground up is no easy task.

He was the one who took out the trash during his first few days at the team's offices, where there was no furniture and he had to sit on the floor while making business calls on his cell phone.

He explained that being part of an expansion team means always having to be in a state of flux, and he likened his current status as it relates to Jordan to a tale of how things don't always work out as planned.

When he was an assistant general manager with New York, Tapscott said the Knicks agreed to a deal with the Charlotte Hornets to acquire Alonzo Mourning for Charles Oakley and Charles Smith.

His delight quickly turned to shock, however, as the Hornets instead dealt Mourning to the Miami Heat for Glen Rice.

"Perhaps most people assumed that I would be the basketball guy of this franchise, and it was never my intention to be just the basketball guy,'' Tapscott said. "I want to oversee all sides.''