The narrative of the Deron Williams trade has always gone something like this: Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor called his old pal Billy King to offer him condolences about the end of the Melo Drama and after discussions centered on Andrei Kirilenko failed, the talk turned to the availability of Williams. The deal quickly got done, with both sides keeping quiet till it was cleared by the NBA offices the next morning.

O'Connor, in an interview with Ian Thomsen, paints a somewhat different picture Basically, he says he was lying in wait, ready to deal D-Will to whoever lost out on Carmelo Anthony. "My thought was New York was going to get him unless they didn't give up enough -- and in that case New Jersey was going to get him," he said. "I didn't know that for fact, but I felt that the team that got beat on it would be motivated to do something." And they were.

• Utah Jazz's trade of Deron Williams offers lessons for team ahead of deadline - Ian Thomsen - Sports Illustrated