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The Golden State Warriors have acquired veteran guard Jarrett Jack from the New Orleans Hornets as part of a three-team trade, it was announced this evening. As part of the deal, the Warriors send forward Dorell Wright to the Philadelphia 76ers, who also receive center Darryl Watkins from New Orleans, while the Hornets receive the draft rights to forward Edin Bavcic from Philadelphia.
Jack, 28, is coming off his best NBA season, one in which he appeared in 45 games (39 starts) for New Orleans and averaged career-highs of 15.6 points, 6.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 34.0 minutes per game. A team captain for the Hornets, Jack shot 45.6% from the field, 34.8% from three-point range and a career-high 87.2% from the free throw line, which ranked 11th in the NBA. The 6’3” guard scored 20-or-more points on 11 occasions, dished out eight-or-more assists 16 times and would have ranked 13th in the NBA in assists per game had he appeared in enough games to qualify. Additionally, he posted five point/assist double-doubles on the season, including a triple-double against the Warriors on March 21, recording 17 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and 11 assists (with zero turnovers).
A seven-year NBA veteran, Jack owns career averages of 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists over 532 career regular-season games combined with Portland, Indiana, Toronto and New Orleans. He appeared in 79-or-more games in each of his first six NBA seasons (including every game from 2007-08 to 2010-11) prior to missing 21 games this past season. A native of Fort Washington, Maryland, he was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft after playing three seasons at Georgia Tech.
“We’re extremely pleased to acquire a player the quality of Jarrett Jack to help supplement our backcourt,” said Warriors’ General Manager Bob Myers. “One of our goals this off-season was to improve our depth at various positions and we think we accomplished that task with this trade. Jarrett recently completed his most productive season in the NBA and, in addition to providing us with additional veteran leadership, his ability to run an offense, score and a variety of other things will be a tremendous asset. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Dorell Wright for his contributions to our team the last two years. He was a compete professional both on and off the floor and someone that I have a great deal of admiration for as a player and person.”
“We’re very happy to get a player like Dorell Wright,” said Sixers President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn. “We think his outside shooting and all-around game will be a great addition to our team and we look forward to having him in Philadelphia.”
Wright was originally the 19th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft by Miami out of South Kent Prep in Connecticut. In eight seasons, the 26-year-old has appeared in 354 games with 199 starts and is averaging 9.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 25.2 minutes per game while shooting 43.8% from the floor, 36.5% from 3-point range and 80.1% from the line.
After playing his first six seasons with Miami, and winning a championship with the HEAT in 2006, Wright signed as a free agent with Golden State on July 12, 2010. Over the past two seasons, he started 143 of a possible 148 games for the Warriors, averaging 13.8 points.
Wright’s best season came with Golden State in 2010-11. He started all 82 games, averaging career-highs of 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.51 steals. Wright led the NBA with 194 3-pointers made that season and ranked tied for 21st with 105 3FGM in 2011-12.
Watkins was not selected in the 2007 NBA Draft following his senior year at Syracuse but played nine games for Sacramento early into the 2007-08 season before being waived. He signed with the Hornets back in April and appeared in five games, averaging 4.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game while shooting 50.0% from the floor. Watkins had 13 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and a block in the final game of the season at Houston on April 26.
A native of New Jersey, Watkins attended Paterson Catholic. In between his stints with the Kings in 2007-08 and Hornets this past season, Watkins competed in summer leagues, training camps and preseason games for numerous teams, including the L.A. Clippers, San Antonio, Houston, Cleveland, Dallas, Indiana and New Orleans. Watkins has also spent time in the D-League and has played internationally in China, Lebanon and most recently, Greece.
Bavcic, originally drafted by the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft, played for Vanoli-Braga Cremona and Bennet Cantu of the Italy’s top division (Serie A) last season, as well as for KAO Dramas in Greece where he averaged 10.9 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 55.2% from the field in 18 games. The 6’11’’ forward/center played for Philadelphia in three consecutive Summer Leagues from 2006-08. Bavcic, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was named Greek A1 League All-Bosmans Team in 2011 and won both the Slovenian Cup and the Slovenian Super Cup in 2010.
