Trade rumors involving Jazz are flying

The Jazz sensed Deron Williams was serious about wanting to play in Utah when the University of Illinois point guard arrived for his audition and interview wearing a suit and tie.

Now, they are making a serious bid to land him.

The Jazz spent much of Monday doing what they could to move up in tonight's NBA Draft, all in an apparent effort to make Williams their point of the future.

Their best bet for doing just that seems to be making a deal with Portland, whose No. 3 pick has been for sale for quite some time.

Some reports Monday suggested Utah and Portland already had said yes to a deal, but as of late Monday night the Jazz were indicating that was not the case.

But they might, it was suggested, know something by this morning.

All the cards, it seems, are in Portland's hands.

Whatever unfolds, Jazz basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor vows to be ready for both the expected and unexpected alike.

"We'll be prepared," O'Connor said, "and we'll be prepared for any contingency.

"Anything that's going to come up we've been through it once," added O'Connor, whose club — as of Monday night — still owned the draft's Nos. 6 and 27 first-round picks and its Nos. 34 and 51 second-round selections. "We've been through (other teams') rosters, we've been through their draft picks, we've been through everything else. So if we say 'no,' we say 'no' for a reason."

Various versions of supposed deals made the rumor rounds Monday.

A longstanding one simply had Utah sending its Nos. 6 and 27 picks to Portland for the No. 3, which it presumably would use to select Williams.

If both Wake Forest's Chris Paul, the draft's other top point, and Williams both were available at 3, it's believed the Jazz would indeed tap Williams — in part because of his bigger size, in part because of how much they respect his ability to lead a team.

Another supposed swap bandied about would have Utah and Portland trading their top picks, with shooting guards Gordan Giricek and Kirk Snyder going to the Trail Blazers and small forward Ruben Patterson coming to the Jazz.

Yet another, reported by ESPN, supposedly had Jazz rookies Snyder and Kris Humphries headed to Portland, with a swap of picks and Patterson coming this way — and Patterson already refusing to report to Utah.