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The Toronto Raptors believe they have found Vince Carter some help.
The Raptors and Bulls agreed to a deal Saturday that will send Jalen Rose, Lonny Baxter and Donyell Marshall to Toronto for Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams and Chris Jefferies, ESPN's David Aldridge has learned.
The league office is closed for the holiday weekend, so the trade won't be announced until Monday at the earliest. League sources tell ESPN.com that Davis and Williams will not play for the Raptors tonight in Miami. Jefferies is on the injured list and would not be eligible to play anyway.
The Bulls are not scheduled to play this weekend.
Even though Rose struggled this season with the Bulls, he was the key player in the deal. Three times in his career he has averaged more than 20 points per game, including the 2002-03 season (22.1). He has a career scoring average of 14.4 points per game.
ESPN.com reported last week that the two teams were discussing a trade involving Rose, and were trying to get the right players involved so the deal would work under their respective salary caps. This was the third attempt between the two teams to get the deal done.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Volatile forward Bonzi Wells was traded by the Portland Trail Blazers to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday for guard Wesley Person and a conditional 2004 first-round draft pick.
Wells was in his sixth season with in Portland, averaging 13.3 points per game. He averaged a career-best 17.0 points during the 2001-2002 season.
Wells, averaging 12.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists this season, was stripped of his co-captaincy and suspended two games earlier this season for cursing at coach Maurice Cheeks.
During a game in November, Cheeks yanked Wells for taking an ill-advised jumpshot. Wells swore at Cheeks on his way back to the bench and stood on the sideline and continued a profanity-laced tirade. Wells sat out the final 16:17 of the game, and the Blazers quickly lost the lead. The Mavericks went on to win 105-98.
"It just gets old. I'm sick of it," Cheeks said at the time. "I'm sick of always saying he didn't mean it and all that. Players have to be accountable for what they do and what they say."
Wells also was fined last month for making an obscene gesture at a fan after a loss to Philadelphia. Last March, Wells was suspended one game for conduct considered detrimental to the team.
"We are very hopeful that this opportunity provides a fresh start for Bonzi in Memphis, and that he enjoys joining a rising young team in the Grizzlies," Memphis president Jerry West said. "We're very optimistic Bonzi will provide a significant presence in our lineup."
Portland gets Person, who has averaged 11.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his 10-year career. With his role limited this season, Wells was averaging only 5.2 points.
"Of course, we lost a veteran player in Wesley who is a true professional and has done a wonderful job for us over the last two seasons," West said. "We certainly wish the best for Wesley as he continues his successful career in the NBA."
If the Grizzlies' first-round pick next June is among the top three selections, they will keep it and give the Trail Blazers their top pick in 2005 -- provided it is not the overall No. 1 pick. If the selection rolls over to 2006, Portland will get it unconditionally.
Portland entered Wednesday night's home game against the Indiana Pacers with an 8-7 record, tied for fourth place in the Pacific Division.
Memphis, 8-8 going into its game against the New Jersey Nets, is last in the Midwest Division.
The trade comes as the Blazers try to repair an image tarnished by several player arrests and team infighting. Just this Tuesday, forward Zach Randolph was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of marijuana.
Team officials are hoping Person will provide some of the veteran leadership the team lost when Scottie Pippen left for the Chicago Bulls as a free agent in the offseason.
Wells has a year left on his contract with the Blazers, plus a team option for another year. Person is in the final season of his contract.
Wells has at times showed flashes of brilliance, including a 45-point performance in Game 2 of the team's first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks last season. But he also developed a troubled reputation.
Wells was suspended early last season by the league for spitting on San Antonio forward Danny Ferry, then was suspended for two games for his role in a postgame scuffle with the Golden State Warriors.
"We are happy to be getting a quality player and individual in Wesley Person, a veteran who can help provide leadership on the court and in the locker room, as well as a draft pick which will help the organization in the future," Blazers general manager John Nash said.
Originally posted by bertrum
Weak. How much are San Anton paying this ass clown? Too much in my opinion. Malik Rose a much better player than him.
Unlike the RANGERS OF THE NHL, THE LAKERS SEEM TO BE BUYING THE CHAMPIONSHIP NOW!
Knicks Make Deal and Plan Another
By STEVE POPPER
Published: December 31, 2003
Isiah Thomas announced the first acquisition of his brief but busy tenure as president of basketball operations for the Knicks last night.
But what he told reporters at Madison Square Garden was not the deal that had been rumored all day, the signing of Leon Smith, who had already visited and departed the Garden.
Instead, he sent forward Clarence Weatherspoon, who had been left home on the recent three-game trip and was negotiating a buyout of his contract, to the Houston Rockets for point guard Moochie Norris and center John Amaechi. Smith is likely to become a Knick when roster manipulations are completed.
Rather than completing the buyout of Weatherspoon's contract, which had three more years totaling $17.6 million, Thomas made the deal with Houston and said Amaechi would be waived, with the team buying out the remaining two years and $5.5 million of his contract.
Once Amaechi clears waivers in 48 hours, the Knicks will be free to add Smith if they choose; they placed Mike Sweetney and Michael Doleac on the injured list before last night's game with Miami.
In nine days since joining the team, Thomas has released the rookie center Slavko Vranes and traded Weatherspoon. The signing of Smith is on the horizon, but the logjam at forward seems to have shifted to point guard, where the team has Frank Williams — inserted as a starter by Coach Don Chaney shortly after Thomas took charge — and Charlie Ward, Howard Eisley and Norris.
Asked what the arrival of Norris meant to Eisley, who had already been demoted from starter to third string, and to Ward, who has been the subject of trade talks, Thomas said: "It means added help. You know with the way that Don wants to play, we want to give him the luxury of playing different guys that can play different tempos."
Norris played all 82 games for the Rockets in each of the last three seasons and was averaging 2.7 points and 1.6 assists in 30 appearances off the bench this season. He has four years and $15.45 million remaining on his deal.
The move completed an odd day in which Smith met with Thomas and worked out — without Chaney present — then made his way through the corridors of the Garden while team officials spoke of an impending signing. Knicks coaches were praising his potential.
Smith, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound forward, entered the N.B.A. from Martin Luther King High School in Chicago. Drafted by the San Antonio Spurs with the 29th pick in 1999, he was sent to the Dallas Mavericks for a pair of second-round picks. He refused the Mavericks' request to play in a developmental league or overseas, and two weeks after signing, attempted suicide by ingesting more than 200 aspirin.
Even with a three-year guaranteed contract as a first-round pick, he was cut by Dallas after he was arrested twice within a 24-hour period by the Chicago police.
After a stint in the Continental Basketball Association, he resurfaced with the Atlanta Hawks two years ago, playing under the current Knicks assistant Lon Kruger. But he was back in the C.B.A., playing for the franchise in Gary, Ind., when the Knicks called.
"You want him to do well," Kruger said. "He's obviously had tough stages of growing up, and unfairly so. I think if a guy can work through that, recover from that, make it, it's great to see."
Apparently you and Isiah are of the same mind.
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Washington Wizards forward Christian Laettner was suspended for five games Tuesday for violating the NBA's drug policy.
The suspension, without pay, began with Tuesday night's home game against Houston.
Spokesman Tim Frank said the league would not comment on when the violation occurred or what substance was involved.
The 6-foot-11 Laettner was drafted out of Duke in 1992, selected by the Timberwolves with the third overall pick in the draft.
He is averaging 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Wizards (10-25), who are sixth in the seven-team Atlantic Division.
He also played for Minnesota, Atlanta, Detroit and Dallas.