NBA Notebook: Let the trades begin as draft approaches
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Associated Press
The NBA notebook …
MINNEAPOLIS ó The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to trade guards Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Washington Wizards for the fifth overall draft pick and three players.
The deal would give Minnesota the fifth and sixth overall selections in Thursday’s NBA draft, as well as forwards Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov.
The Timberwolves also have the 18th and 28th selections in the first round, which gives them plenty of ammunition to potentially create a package to move up even higher in the draft to go after either Spanish guard Ricky Rubio or Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet.
BUCKS-SPURS
SAN ANTONIO ó The Spurs acquired scoring swingman Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee in a four-player deal on Tuesday, giving San Antonio the extra offensive punch the aging former champions sorely needed.
The Spurs sent veterans Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto to the Bucks in exchange for the 29-year-old Jefferson, who averaged 19.6 points in his one season with the Bucks.
Milwaukee then dealt Oberto to the Pistons for forward Amir Johnson.
MAY’S STATUS
CHARLOTTEó Sean May faces a summer of uncertainty as an unrestricted free agent after four years of seemingly never-ending knee and weight issues in Charlotte.
The Bobcats decided on Tuesday not to make a one-year qualifying offer of $3.7 million to May, who has appeared in only 82 of a possible 328 games since being the 13th pick in the 2005 draft.
Plagued first by chronic knee pain that led to microfracture surgery, May struggled to get into proper playing shape last season for coach Larry Brown, who refused to play the 6-foot-9 power forward for long stretches until he lost weight.