The New Jersey Nets acquired forward Gerald Wallace from the Portland Trail Blazers in a deadline deal on Thursday in exchange for center Mehmet Okur, small forward Shawne Williams and New Jersey's protected 2012 first-round pick, the Nets announced. The pick is top-3 protected, according to a league source.
"Gerald gives us some great defense, versatility, he's a hard worker and he'll provide leadership," Nets general manager Billy King said in a Thursday night conference call, hours after the 3 p.m. trade deadline passed.
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King said it was difficult to give up the pick, but "in meeting with our scouts we felt the player that we may draft beyond the protection would be somebody that would probably take a couple years (to develop), and at this point, we're trying to speed the process up a bit and start winning (more).
"I can understand the fanbase (wanting us to keep the pick), but I'd rather try to balance the roster, add a piece and still have cap flexibility.
The Nets still have Houston's 2012 protected first-rounder, King noted, "so it's not like we got completely out of the draft." At the same time, it appears as though they're in "win-now" mode.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/76915 ... ources-say
The Houston Rockets have agreed to terms on a deal to acquire veteran center Marcus Camby from the Portland Trail Blazers, according to sources with knowledge of the deal.
The deal that has been submitted to the league office for approval, sources said, calls for Houston to send guard Jonny Flynn, center Hasheem Thabeet and a future second-round pick to the Blazers for Camby, who has maintained an offseason residence in Houston for some time and has always liked the idea of playing for the Rockets.
