Utah Jazz interested in trading for Deron Williams

Do you know who is, right now, probably better than Shelvin Mack, Raul Neto, and Dante Exum? Deron Williams. Yeah, that guy who helped the team win 9 playoff games back in his first trip to the post-season. The Dallas Mavericks player isn’t having his best season ever, but his 13 / 7 / 3 / 1 is still pretty impressive for the 32 year old. And if we can see this than so can the Utah Jazz. And that’s precisely what ESPN’s Tim MacMahon is suggesting.

More on this as the night unfolds.

UPDATE!

Excerpts!

No deal appeared imminent Tuesday night, sources told ESPN.com, but Utah has registered its interest in bringing Williams back to his original team, with Dallas open to trading both Williams and center Andrew Bogut in advance of Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.

Williams can't be traded without his consent, thanks to his one-year, $9 million deal with the Mavericks after playing the previous season in Dallas, because the 32-year-old would have to forfeit his free-agent Bird rights if dealt to another team.

...and...

Adding depth at point guard makes sense for Utah in part due to starter George Hill's injury issues. The Jazz are 23-9 when Hill plays and 12-13 when he sits.

Hill's left big toe, which sidelined him for almost all of December, continues to be an issue. He sat out Utah's Feb. 9 loss to the Mavs due to soreness in the toe but played in the final three games before the All-Star break.

Williams, taken No. 3 overall by Utah in the 2005 draft, is averaging 13.1 points and 6.9 assists in his second season with the Mavs. But injuries have limited him to 40 games.

Williams' recent toe injury helped open the door for rookie point guard Yogi Ferrell, who averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 assists during a seven-game stint as a fill-in starter with the Mavs going 5-2 in that span.

Dallas also expects backup point guard J.J. Barea to return from an extended absence due to a calf strain soon after the All-Star break.

Personally? If the Jazz could add Bogut and D-Will without giving up much, this is a very well designed team that has toughness and experience and able to put the best possible ‘good faith’ show to Hayward’s camp that this is a team that wants to win now, during Hayward’s peak.