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The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have acquired guard Willie Green and power forward/center Jason Smith from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for forward’s Craig Brackins and Darius Songaila.
“It is tough to trade Darius and Craig, but we believe both teams will benefit from this move,” said General Manager Dell Demps. “Willie is a combo-guard with versatility who can give us minutes at the back-up point guard spot and the shooting guard position. We are excited he is a part of our program and believe he can be an asset both offensively and defensively for us. Jason will have an opportunity to compete for minutes. He is a young, athletic big man with shooting ability and we are getting him at a good time of his career.”
Brackins (6-10, 230), was the 21st pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. His rights, along with current Hornets forward Quincy Pondexter’s rights (26th overall pick), were traded to the Hornets on July 20, 2010 in exchange for the rights of Cole Aldrich (10th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft) and Morris Peterson. Brackins averaged 10.0 points and 4.6 rebounds over five games (all starts) in the 2010 NBA Summer League with the Hornets. In three seasons at Iowa State, the big man earned All-Big 12 First Team honors his sophomore season and All-Big 12 Second Team honors his junior season.
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Songaila (6-9, 248), averaged 7.2 points and 3.1 rebounds over 75 games (one start) in his lone year with the Hornets in 2009-10. He was originally acquired by the Hornets in a trade on September 9, 2009 that sent Antonio Daniels and a 2014 second round pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Songaila and former Hornet Bobby Brown. The seven-year NBA veteran has career averages of 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds over 485 career games (79 starts).
Green (6-3, 201), who was drafted in the second round (41st overall) by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2003 NBA Draft and then traded on draft night to the Philadelphia 76ers, averaged 8.7 points, 2.1 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 73 games (18 starts) last season. He shot a career-high 45.7 percent from the floor and committed just 67 turnovers over the course of the 2009-10 season. The Detroit native has played all seven seasons with the 76ers, averaging 9.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 21.8 minutes over 422 games (211 starts). His best season was in 2007-08 when he averaged career-high’s of 12.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 steals in 74 games (all starts). Green played collegiately at Detroit Mercy for four seasons, earning Honorable Mention All-America and the Horizon League Player of the Year honors his senior season after averaging 22.6 points.
Smith (7-0, 240) was selected in the first round (20th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft by the Miami HEAT and then traded to Philadelphia on draft night. He averaged 3.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game over 56 games (two starts) last season with the 76ers. The Colorado native shot 43.1 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from three-point range last season. Smith missed the entire 2008-09 season after tearing the ACL in his left knee during a workout in August of 2008. During his rookie season, Smith appeared in 76 games (one start), averaging 4.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.66 blocks in 14.6 minutes per game. The big man played three seasons at Colorado State University, earning First Team All-Mountain West Conference honors his sophomore and junior seasons and MWC Freshman of the Year accolades his first season. The 24-year old averaged 16.8 points and 10.1 rebounds his final season in Fort Collins before declaring early for the NBA Draft. Smith was a two-time Colorado state player of the year in high school.
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