Kevin O'Connor went to sleep at 11:10 p.m. Monday, draft eve. How did he feel at the time? "Lousy," O'Connor said. How bad? O'Connor woke up at about 11:30 p.m.
Twelve hours or so later, the Jazz's senior vice president of basketball operations wasn't feeling much better.
That all changed, though, in an instant.
At about 11:35 a.m. Tuesday, the Jazz acquired the No. 3 selection in Tuesday night's NBA Draft — and used it to take the point guard they coveted so desperately, just-turned 21-year-old University of Illinois junior Deron Williams.
In the second round, Utah added Dallas Skyline High School shooting guard C.J. Miles with their No. 34 pick and former University of Cincinnati center Robert Whaley of tiny Walsh (Ohio) University.
"This was the guy we wanted," O'Connor said of Williams. "He's a winner. He's a point guard. He wants to make everybody else on the floor better. If you're around him, it's infectious."
That's why the Jazz worked so hard to catch Williams, a pass-first point who led the Big Ten Conference in assists in each of his three collegiate seasons.
"We've been working on this from the very beginning," Jazz president Denny Haslam said, "and everything gelled late this morning
"It worked out just fine," he added. "I am ecstatic. Kevin O'Connor is ecstatic. (Team owner) Larry Miller is ecstatic. And (coach) Jerry Sloan cracked a big smile."
To get Portland's No. 3, the Jazz gave up their own Nos. 6 and 27 picks in Tuesday's first round and a conditional future first-round selection acquired from Detroit when they sent former starting point guard Carlos Arroyo to the Pistons this past season.
The Detroit choice could be used by the Trail Blazers as soon as 2006, but is lottery-protected through 2010.
Portland used the No. 6 pick to take Seattle high school star Martell Webster.
Before the Trail Blazers agreed to do the deal, they needed time to make sure Charlotte would not give them its 5 and 13 to move up and that Toronto would not give them its 6 and 17 to do the same.
"I didn't think we were the lead dog in this hunt," O'Connor said.
When the Jazz sweetened their deal with the lottery-protected Detroit pick, though, Portland bit.
And once the Blazers did, it didn't take the Jazz too long to decide they would take Williams — assuming, that is, Atlanta did not nab him first at No. 2. There was, though, some debate. In fact, O'Connor said the final call on Williams over Wake Forest University point Chris Paul did not come until about 4 p.m. Tuesday.
"It was not an easy decision," Sloan said afterward. "We just had to go with what we think is best for this franchise."
Sloan said Williams and Paul "play a little bit differently, see a little bit differently."
So what was the ultimate difference, then, in the mind of Jazz brass?
For starters, Williams might have sold himself a bit better.
"His interview that we had with him was very impressive as to how the game is played and what his approach to basketball (is)," Sloan said. "His overall knowledge of basketball was, I thought, very impressive. . . . He seemed to have a pretty good understanding of what team basketball is about."
"I think he (Williams) sees the floor," O'Connor added, "as well as anybody we've seen in a long time."
Physical attributes helped, too.
At 6-foot-3 Williams is two inches taller than Paul. At a solid 202 pounds — down about 15 from a few months ago — he also has 20-plus on Paul's 178.
"He looked in terrific shape," Sloan said. "I thought he looked in much-better shape than when I watched a couple games on TV."
Added O'Connor: "When he came in and showed us that he had lost weight, that he had better quickness than we thought, and just being around him — it felt right."
Even after the decision was made, the Jazz had to sweat through making sure Atlanta would take Marvin Williams instead of Deron Williams at 2.
The Hawks did just that at the draft in New York, taking North Carolina's Williams second after University of Utah big man Andrew Bogut went to Milwaukee.
When they did, a roar was heard from a crowd of a few thousand who watched events unfold at the Delta Center. Even then, though, a smidgen of uncertainty was in the Madison Square Garden air.
"It was probably down to me or Chris Paul, and I didn't know what to expect," said Deron Williams, a West Virginia native who played at The Colony High school in suburban Dallas, Texas. "I found out just like everybody else in the world did."
When Utah's small Delta Center part of the world got its word that Williams indeed was the Jazz's man, yet another roar erupted. Louder than the one in the arena, though, may have been whoop in the Jazz draft room.
"We're thrilled to have him on board," O'Connor said. "He's somebody that's special."
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com