Trade details II

OK, as quickly as I can (because I’m supposed to be working a desk shift in the office at the moment), here’s how things will down with the Justin Williams trade.

This three-way trade was all but finished last night. The Kings nearly pulled Patrick O’Sullivan from the lineup last night, but didn’t because they were still looking at medical records. Then it all fell apart, in PART because of me and my attempts to confirm the blog item that was in the Toronto paper. Certain details of the trade went public, and the trade fell apart. Dean Lombardi, who was my source last night in reporting that the Kings weren’t interested, told me today that he had to lie about his interest in Williams, because the deal was in danger of falling apart. He gave me permission to say that, because he knows my credibility would take a hit, but he didn’t have another choice at the moment.

The trade got revived this morning, and the bottom line is that the Kings had to throw in a second-round draft pick in order to get the deal done.

That’s the short story. There’s a much longer story, but I think you’re probably more interested in WHY the deal got done. I have some quotes from Lombardi about why he wanted Williams, and I will post them, but I’m going to beg for patience because I’m trying to help get a newspaper out as well…

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