The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has acquired 6-10 forward Nathan Jawai and cash considerations from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a conditional second-round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The pick is protected through the 55th draft position.
“Nathan is a young project who likely will add depth to our roster at his position,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operation. “We were contemplating this trade prior to Kevin Love’s hand injury, so this move is not intended to replace Kevin in the short term by any means. That would not be fair to Nathan. Rather, this move provided us an opportunity to work with a young player with size, and later determine if he could be a fit for us.”
Jawai, a native of Sydney, Australia, was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 41st overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, and was subsequently traded to Toronto as part of the deal that sent Jermaine O’Neal to the Raptors. Jawai appeared in six games during his rookie season, playing a total of 19 minutes. He also appeared in 14 games for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League, averaging 11.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting 52.6 percent from the field.
Prior to entering the NBA Draft, Jawai played one season in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL), where he averaged 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for the Cairns Taipans. Jawai was the 2007-08 NBL Rookie of the Year, the 2007 NBL All-Star Game MVP and earned All-NBL Second Team honors.
