Jason Williams' recent frustration about trade rumors persisting around him can be seen as a window into the psyche of some players around this time of year.

During what most call "the most wonderful time of the year," Williams admitted that with less than two months left before the NBA's trade deadline, players may have their mind on something else – the likelihood they'll be uprooted and moved to another city.

"The thing about it is how it affects your family," Williams said after the Heat lost to the Cavaliers on Christmas. "We're like some high-paid prostitutes anyway in this league. They just use and get rid of us whenever they want."

With Williams shedding light upon some players' thoughts before the deadline, who are among the players that might want to consider preparing for a potential move before February ends?

The market seems to be littered with what teams are seeking: back-up point guards. The playoff contending teams in both conferences are searching for relief for their starting guards – Phoenix, Boston, Golden State, Toronto (depending on what happens to TJ Ford), Cleveland, and Utah are among the teams that could benefit from making a move for a reserve guard.

Interestingly, three of the four players most likely to be traded by the deadline are of that vein: Jason Williams, Smush Parker, and Flip Murray.

Easiest enough, a good starting point is with Williams, who coincidentally has lost his starting job to Chris Quinn. At the beginning of the season, Quinn was sitting behind Williams AND Smush Parker on the Heat's depth chart (more on Parker later). It comes to no wonder why he's concerned about being moved, as Williams' $8.9-million expiring contract does make him a valuable commodity.

Williams' propensity to take bad shots has led to the Heat certainly coveting an outside shooter (the team ranks 24th in the league in three-point percentage). The team may be able to find an overpriced shooter by dangling Williams in exchange for a legitimate replacement for Jason Kapono.

The other Heat guard, Smush Parker, has worn out his welcome already in Miami. The Heat may find it difficult to get much value in return for Parker because his reputation now precedes him around the league. Parker hasn't been able to stick around anywhere in his basketball career – he played one season at Southern Idaho, one year at Fordham (and clashed with then-coach Bob Hill)), and had several short stints in the NBDL and with the Cavs, Pistons, and Suns before his two-year tenure in LA with the Lakers (and a clash with Phil Jackson).

All that movement eventually catches up with you. While Miami desperately seeks a trade partner for Parker, what can they really get for him? Adding to the trouble of his past is the fact that Parker has a player-option for next year, likely keeping him on the hook for any team that picks him up. In any case, he'll be moved in some fashion by the deadline and will find another home because he's still very athletic and pretty talented on offense.

With Rodney Stuckey almost fully returned from injury and rookie Arron Afflalo contributing so much for the Pistons, Flip Murray won't be needed much longer in Detroit. He's instant offense off the bench and for a team that needs that kind of kick, his expiring and cheap $1.8-million deal is a low-risk, high-reward type of deal.

Although it's possible that the Pistons want to keep him around, giving time to Murray when he's certainly going to be out the door seems meaningless for a Piston squad focused on developing Stuckey and pick up another piece to a championship-contending puzzle. The Pistons could certainly use another shooter now that they've picked up some depth down low with Primoz Brezec.

The fourth most likely candidate to be moved isn't a point guard, but is a reserve nonetheless in Gordan Giricek of the Utah Jazz. Conflicts between Jerry Sloan and his players aren't new – plenty of players have done it in the past because of demanding and old-school style, but Sloan is always the one that wins out. Although Andrei Kirilenko has been able to work his differences out with the Hall of Fame coach, Giricek's recent tiff with Sloan likely leads to his divorce from the team.

Giricek is everything Sloan doesn't want – an offensive-minded player that doesn't focus much on defense. But for a playoff team that is looking for bench depth, his expiring $4-million is a great means of shedding a longer-term contract for a guy that'll just come in and gun for you. He's a solid shooter and can create for himself if he needs to – isn't that a nice seventh or eighth man to bring off the bench?

The Jazz will be looking for some kind of veteran help in moving Giricek and there are some options out there for them to explore. After Derek Fisher's departure in the summer, the Jazz find themselves needing leadership in the backcourt.

None of these names are particularly sexy, but they're low-risk moves that teams would be willing to take. With so many big-name free agents available in the summer of 2008, people are focusing on the potential moves of Jason Kidd and Andre Miller so the Nets and Sixers can free up cap space, but the Nets are asking too much for Kidd and Miller's recent play has been too good for the Sixers to sell him off for nothing.

As things currently stand, only four or five teams have the significant cap space to make major moves in the summer. It's possible other teams get into the mix by shedding their salary, but one thing must be remembered – if everyone is looking to shed salary to make runs at free agents this summer, why would other teams be willing to give up their monster contracts?

The ones willing to do so are the teams that have a very small chance of being under the cap by July – those are the teams that will be looking to pick up high-salaries player like Kidd. Unless they make major moves before the deadlines, among those teams are the Lakers, Knicks, Celtics, Cavaliers, Rockets, Mavericks, and Nuggets.

But it's the small, manufactured moves that lead to building better teams, not always the home runs. The four guys mentioned have moveable contracts and still can contribute as backups.

They should have their bags ready, regardless of the fact that it may make them feel used.

Sorry, Jason.