The Philadelphia 76ers, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets consummated a three-way trade on Wednesday that involved a pair of former first-round draft picks and two future second-round selections.
Memphis, said to have long coveted Philadelphia's 6-foot-10 backup power forward, Maurice Speights, finally executed a trade to acquire the 24-year-old Speights, sending away its 2010 first-round pick, Xavier Henry, to New Orleans in the process.
[Previously: Draft pick dealt in Byron Mullens trade]
In return for Speights, the 76ers received the Grizzlies' 2012 second round draft pick, along with a future 2013 second-rounder from the Hornets.
The trade gives Memphis a backup to Marc Gasol, a replacement for the injured Zach Randolph and a formidable low post threat on the cheap, New Orleans another promising young player as the team rebuilds and Philadelphia a pair of low cost future assets.
[Previously: Draft picks dealt in CP3 trade]
Drafted 16th overall out of Florida in the 2008 NBA Draft, Speights has appeared in 205 games over the past four seasons and holds career averages of 7.2 ppg and 3.7 rpg. Before the trade, he had not appeared in any one of the 76ers first four games of the 2011-12 season.
Henry, a 6-foot-6 wing out of Kansas, was the 12th overall selection in the 2010 draft. Despite the rookie salary scale, he engaged in a minor holdout before signing with Memphis in August of 2010.
The 20-year-old appeared in 38 games last season, making 16 starts, but was shut down in March after suffering a right knee sprain. He averaged 4.3 ppg and 1.0 rpg for the Grizzlies in 2010-11 and had yet to see any court action for the team in 2011-12.
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© 2012 Neal J. Leitereg -- All Rights Reserved
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