Deron Williams, Teammates Shocked By Trade

DWill and his now-former teammates in Utah apparently found out about the blockbuster trade today while watching SportsCenter. Deron was not amused. Around the NBA, rival players and coaches are equally shocked. The Salt Lake Tribune reports from the scene of the proverbial crime: “We feel that we’ve addressed a current need at point guard with Deron’s departure, as well as the future with draft picks and a big man,’ Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor said. ‘To do so we had to give up an All-Star, but we feel like this is a win for both sides.’ That part remains to be seen … Fellow Dallas product C.J. Miles was as dismayed as anyone. The small forward entered the league with Williams in 2005, and the two locker neighbors have formed a strong bond over the years. ‘Nobody saw it coming,’ Miles said. ‘It was crazy.’ Jazz veteran Raja Bell explained that multiple Jazz players, including Williams, were working out in the team hotel gym together when the news flashed on the TV screen. But they laughed about the blurb that rolled across ESPN’s Ticker, thinking it was just a rumor. ‘I was kind of shocked, a little bit of disbelief as it came across ESPN, just because I was sitting with him in the training room and he didn’t know anything about it at the time,’ Bell said. ‘We kind of chuckled about it, honestly.’ … O’Connor called to inform the Jazz’s new coach, Ty Corbin, as the team was getting prepared to leave the hotel for shootaround at American Airlines Arena this morning. The out-of-the-blue deal happened so quickly, O’Connor told Corbin, because the Nets were looking to do something big after their attempts at acquiring ex-Denver star Carmelo Anthony fell through.”