Sports / Basketball |
Suns, Blazers complete NBA draft-day deal(AFP)Updated: 2007-07-13 10:07 The Phoenix Suns and Portland on Wednesday completed a deal to send forward James Jones, and the draft rights to Spain's Rudy Fernandez, to the Trail Blazers in exchange for cash. The addition of Jones completed a draft-day trade on June 28 that saw the Suns send the 24th overall pick in the 2007 draft to the Blazers for undisclosed cash considerations. Portland selected Fernandez with the selection. "We are thrilled to have a long-range shooter and a young man with very high character in James Jones," Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. "And Rudy Fernandez is a tremendous prospect who has excelled at the highest levels of international basketball." Portland was able to acquire Jones with a trade exception gained in a draft-day trade with New York, which sent Zach Randolph, Freddy Jones and Dan Dickau to the Knicks in exchange for Steve Francis and Channing Frye. Jones averaged 6.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 18.1 minutes in 76 games for the Suns last season. In 11 playoff games, the 26-year-old averaged 5.0 points and 1.4 rebounds. Jones came to Phoenix in a sign-and-trade deal with Indiana prior to the 2005-06 season. He owns career averages of 6.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 232 games spanning four seasons. Fernandez had another stellar campaign overseas, averaging a team-high 16.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists with Spanish club Badalona. The shooting guard also averaged 16.8 points in Euroleague play. The Suns completed another deal on Wednesday, as the NBA's moratorium on free agents ended, signing veteran Grant Hill. Terms were not disclosed, but the East Valley Tribune reported last week that Hill signed a two-year deal. According to the report, Hill will earn Phoenix's biannual salary exception - roughly 1.8 million dollars - this season. Hill, 34, spent the last seven seasons with the Orlando Magic but battled injuries and never fulfilled his promise. The seven-time All-Star is coming off a seven-year, 93 million-dollar contract which expired at the end of last season. Hill appeared in 65 games last season, averaging 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Now he joins a high-flying Suns squad which already boasts a trio of All-Stars - Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Shawn Marion. Phoenix also has an impressive supporting cast led by Leandro Barbosa, the NBA's reigning Sixth Man of the Year who averaged 18.1 points last season. Shooting guard Raja Bell chipped in 14.7 points per game this past campaign, matching his career high. But for all of their firepower, the Suns once again fell short of their goal
for a championship. They went 61-21 this past season and earned the second seed
in the Western Conference only to lose a hard-fought six-game series to the
eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference semi-finals.
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