Jazz get guy they wanted in draft

Maybe it was because they had been working the phones for weeks, trying to make a deal to get Deron Williams in a Jazz uniform and were exhausted. Or because, with 30 minutes left before the deadline on trading draft picks, the arrangement still hadn't occurred. It wasn't until eight minutes to go, at 11:52 Tuesday morning, it finally clicked — the Jazz had moved up three spots, to No. 3 in the draft.

Come to think of it, they did seem a bit incredulous.

Whatever the reason, when the Jazz finally did make their pick, the announcement was succinct. Team president Dennis Haslam took the podium at the Delta Center, moments before the pick was announced in New York, and simply said, "Thanks for coming out tonight, folks. Deron Williams."

That was it. All of 10 seconds. It was shorter than a John Stockton acceptance speech. The Jazz's highest pick since 1982 — the year they drafted, then traded Dominique Wilkins for cash that saved the franchise — was in the books.

For once the Jazz had exactly what they wanted, perhaps for the first time since landing Darrell Griffith in 1980. It's true they were happy with other picks over the years, such as John Stockton, Karl Malone, Thurl Bailey and Andrei Kirilenko. But those players were the best the Jazz could get at where they picked. In Stockton they thought they had landed a suitable backup to Rickey Green, not the future NBA assists and steals leader. In Malone they felt they had secured a guy who could give them size and rebounding down low, not the second-leading scorer in history.

They took Wilkins the last time they had a No. 3 pick. But they did that just so they could trade him for cash.

But to get precisely what they needed with their pick — and to have their choice of two outstanding point guards — was rare if not unprecedented. In selecting Illinois' Williams over Wake Forest's Chris Paul, they got a player almost sure to fill a desperate need. Unlike some college players, Williams won't need to learn the art of passing first. He already knows that. Nor will he need to be ordered to play defense. But he will want to master the nuances Jerry Sloan's system — which usually involves throwing his body in path of danger on a moment's notice.

The other stuff will come in due time.

That the Jazz would wind up with a high enough pick to get Williams was a major achievement. Late Tuesday morning they traded with Portland to get the No. 3 pick, in exchange for their own No. 6 and 27 spots. It had been a long, torturous process.