DALLAS -- It was a word used often hours after the news unfolded, but "shock" might have been an understatement about how the Utah Jazz felt about the franchise's sudden and stunning end of the Deron Williams Era.

In a trade that nobody saw coming, two-time All-Star Williams was shipped off to the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday in exchange for veteran point guard Devin Harris, young power forward Derrick Favors, and two first-round picks (from the Nets in 2011 and the Golden State Warriors in 2012).

The Jazz, according to national reports, will also receive $3 million in cash from the Nets.

"We feel that we've addressed a current need at point guard with Deron's departure, as well as the future with draft picks and a big man," Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said. "To do so we had to give up an All-Star, but we feel like this is a win for both sides."

That part remains to be seen.

"What it boiled down to, for me anyway, was my gut sense of whether we'd be able to re-sign Deron," Jazz CEO Greg Miller said at an afternoon press conference . "And while I never saw any indication that he wouldn't re-sign with us, I never saw any indication he would re-sign with us."

"I think it's a win-win situation," O'Connor said. "New Jersey wanted a marquee player and a star."

Asked why the Jazz made a move in the middle of their season, Miller said that the organization didn't want to end up like Phoenix or Cleveland.

"All those teams lost their marquee players and had very little to show for it," Miller said.

"Were we willing to take that risk?" O'Connor said. "Were we willing to go through what Denver went through this year? And we would have been if we didn't feel that a deal that would have helped the health of the franchise be in place."

The Jazz are still dealing with the aftershock of the biggest trade in franchise history, which comes only two weeks after the sudden resignation of 23-year Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan and longtime assistant Phil Johnson.

Fellow Dallas product C.J. Miles was as dismayed as anyone. The small forward entered the league with Williams in 2005, and the two locker neighbors have formed a strong bond over the years.

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"Nobody saw it coming," Miles said. "It was crazy."

Jazz veteran Raja Bell explained that multiple Jazz players, including Williams, were working out in the team hotel gym together when the news flashed on the TV screen. But they laughed about the blurb that rolled across ESPN's Ticker, thinking it was just a rumor.

"I was kind of shocked, a little bit of disbelief as it came across ESPN, just because I was sitting with him in the training room and he didn't know anything about it at the time," Bell said. We kind of chuckled about it, honestly."

Ronnie Price, Paul Millsap and Kyrylo Fesenko were also with the two Jazz guards when the ticker rolled across the screen.

"We kind of had a laugh because those kinds of things come across the ticker all the time," Bell added. "It was obvious at that point that he didn't know. After he made a couple of calls, it was obvious that it was going to go down."

Having been traded a few times during his 11-year career, Bell talked to Williams and offered his verbal support after the news was finalized.

"I told him I know where he's coming from," Bell said. "I know it's a hard pill to swallow. Regardless of what your relationship was with the team or fan base when you get traded, it's still tough."

O'Connor called to inform the Jazz's new coach, Ty Corbin, as the team was getting prepared to leave the hotel for shootaround at American Airlines Arena this morning.

The out-of-the-blue deal happened so quickly, O'Connor told Corbin, because the Nets were looking to do something big after their attempts at acquiring ex-Denver star Carmelo Anthony fell through.

"My initial reaction is that I'm going to miss Deron. He was a good player for us," Corbin said following shootaround. "I've been with him his entire time in the NBA as an assistant coach and now as a head coach for a few games.

"He's a great player and he's a good teammate for the guys, and we're going to miss him," Corbin added. "I wish him well as he moves forward, and we'll have to work our way through it."

Miles and Williams spoke briefly as the team got on the bus, and the Jazz's sixth man said he'll give D-Will a call later today.

"There was no way to forecast that this was going to happen," Bell said.

Williams did not attend the Jazz's shootaround, and according to national reports the two incoming players were informed of the trade at the Nets' shootaround Wednesday morning. It's unknown when Harris and Favors will join the Jazz, who leave for Indianapolis after playing the Mavericks in Dallas tonight.

In Harris, the Jazz are getting a former All-Star point guard who was taken fifth overall in the 2004 draft — the year prior to Williams' draft — by the Washington Wizards. The 28-year-old Wisconsin product averaged 15.0 points and 7.6 assists for the Nets this season.

The 6-3, 190-pound Harris has played for Dallas and the Nets during his seven-year career, averaging 13.2 points, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals.

The 19-year-old Favors, who was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2010 draft, gives the Jazz more depth at the power forward spot. The 6-10, 246-pounder has averaged 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds his rookie season for the Nets.

The Nets, meanwhile, will get forwards Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric from Golden State in exchange for Troy Murphy.

This deal comes a few days after Yahoo.com reported that a friend of Williams' declared that he would be interested in playing for the New York Knicks when his contract expires after the 2011-12 season. Williams denied the rumor during the All-Star Break.

It also comes two weeks after Williams was linked with the departure of Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan, who resigned abruptly in his 23rd season as Jazz coach a day after getting into a heated argument with the team captain.

Williams admitted to arguing with Sloan on occasion, but denied that he was the impetus in Sloan's resignation.

More information will be posted as it comes along.

E-mail: jody@desnews.com

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