Utah Jazz: Sundiata Gaines, Othyus Jeffers among four players cut

SALT LAKE CITY — Just last week, Othyus Jeffers was nearly floating while talking about what a dream it was to get his first-ever start for the Utah Jazz.

Roster hopefuls Ryan Thompson and Demetris Nichols expressed similar sentiments when they were recently inserted into the starting lineup for preseason games.

And it was only nine months ago when Sundiata Gaines found a permanent spot in Jazz fans' hearts by sinking an unbelievable buzzer-and-Cleveland-beating 3-pointer shortly after being called up from the D-League.

On Thursday, the current chapter ended on those NBA stories that almost seemed to good to be true. The Jazz trimmed their roster to the minimum of 13 players by cutting Gaines, Jeffers, Nichols and Thompson prior to practice.

That leaves second-round pick Jeremy Evans as the only player remaining on the team with a non-guaranteed contract, and the moves solidify what will likely be the opening day roster for the quickly approaching 2010-11 season.

"It's never easy," Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said, "but it's a business and we had some decisions. ... Bottom line is, I thought Jeremy Evans outplayed everybody else."

The four cut players were not made available for comment, but their pain was felt from the franchise's front office, through the coaching staff, to their now former teammates.

"It's a lousy day," O'Connor said. "It really is from that point of view because those kids have made our camp better."

Out of respect, Jerry Sloan always conducts player cuts face-to-face — with O'Connor also in the room — and the Hall of Fame coach considers breaking the bad news one of the worst parts of his job.

"It's never a fun day for us to have to come and do this," said Sloan, who's entering his 23rd season as Utah's head coach. "That's part of this business. I'd just as soon not go to work. But that's part of it. We move on and wish them well."

Deron Williams preferred to keep his comments to the cut-day casualties personal, but he shares his coach's sour feelings about the process. He called the released players "great guys" and credited them for helping the team this fall.

"It's a bad day. Nobody likes this day," Williams said. "It's not fun for anybody. It's not fun for coach, not fun for us, not fun for the guys that get cut. It's part of the business, but it's tough to see."