NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Hornets traded disgruntled veteran guard Jim Jackson to the Phoenix Suns for three young players on Friday, a deal first reported by ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
Phoenix also got a 2005 second-round draft pick for swing man Casey Jacobsen, 23, and forwards Maciej Lampe, 19, and Jackson Vroman, 23. None was a starter, but Jacobsen played about 19 minutes and averaged 5.3 points a game.
To make room on the roster, the Hornets waived forward Matt Freije and guard Junior Harrington.
Very nice deal for the Hornets... for a guy who basically was worthless to them, they get a nice set of young players. Plus, they pretty much turned David Wesley into these guys plus Bostjan Nachbar. For a team not going anywhere, they're going a good job rebuilding.
As far as Phoenix goes, they give up some bench depth, but Jackson should be their top 6th man once Nash is fully healthy. He'll definitely help take the pressure off of guys like Richardson and Joe Johnson.
Works out well for JJ, too, since instead of sitting out the remainder of the season with a team that's going nowhere (granted, he forfeited his salary, too), he gets to play for a team that will contend for home-court advantage this year. I'm not convinced at this juncture that the Suns are NBA Championship contenders, or even Western Conference Championship contenders, but then again other than the Spurs and Mavericks (who are both gonna be very good), the West is mostly wide open.
I wouldn't have wanted to play for New Orleans, either. Nothing against the team or the city. But they're gonna miss the playoffs, and they're gonna miss it decisively. They've had a horrible year, and at this point in his career, I certainly understand why Jackson wouldn't want to start over and rebuild yet again.
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Originally posted by Guru ZimDid Phoenix fill a need here? They seem fine (from the little I pay attention). Why did they make a move?
Phoenix have absolutely no one of worth on their bench. (With Barbosa out and Smush Parker as back up PG) As demonstrated by the Nash-less slide they went on. Jackson gives them a bench option and cover for Q Rich and the other JJ. If he could run the point too they'd be better off, but it's a decent trade for them
Oh man, are the Knicks ever taking a gamble here. Tracy McGrady traded to New York in 3-team deal, sources say It looks like the Knicks made this trade with the huge assumption that they're hitting paydirt in the free agent market this offseason.