Wizards trade Jamison to Cavs
The Washington Wizards have traded Antawn Jamison to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Zydrunas Ilgauskas and his expiring contract, as well as a first round pick. In addition, the Wizards have traded newly-acquired F/C Drew Gooden to the Los Angeles Clippers for quick forward Al Thornton and power forward Brian Skinner, who has not played since January 29. The Clippers also traded Sebastian Telfair to the Cavaliers. This three-team trade is the culmination of weeks of negotiations, rumor and speculation about what the Wizards would finally do with Jamison, who is in the second year of a 4-year contract with $28 million coming due in the next two seasons. The Wiz also got from the Cavs the rights to Emir Preldžič, a 22-year-old Slovenian who was drafted in the 2nd round last year by the Phoenix Suns. He plays in Europe and will probably continue to do so.
Ilgauskas will almost surely be waived quickly so he can eventually re-sign with the Cavaliers, but his $11.5 million expiring contract will help provide salary cap relief for the Wizards. In addition, Skinner's contract is also expiring. In the past week GM Ernie Grunfeld has cleared $28 million in salary from next year's Wizards squad. Thornton, 25, is still on his rookie contract and is earning just over $1.9 million this year.
The longest-tenured Wizard is now Andray Blatche, the only player left from the 2006-07 roster, not counting the disgraced and suspended Gilbert Arenas.
Al Thornton, a former first round pick from Florida State who is in his third year in the NBA, is averaging 10.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He has started in the past, but in February had been demoted to spot duty, averaging only 18 minutes per game this month. He is shooting 48% from the field and 74% from the free throw line. He should see a significant increase in playing time with Washington, even if he isn't put into the starting lineup this season. Here is EPSN's John Hollinger on Thornton:
2008-09 season: Thornton played a ton of minutes, and his scoring average might make you think he played well. But don't be fooled. He showed virtually no progress from his rookie season, which shouldn't be too big a shock considering how old he was (25) for a second-year player. His outside stroke in particular abandoned him. Thornton shot only 25.3 percent on 3s, and though a third of his shots were long 2s, he converted only 37.3 percent.
As a scorer he was terribly inefficient, with just a 50.2 TS% and no capacity whatsoever for setting up teammates -- he was 61st out of 63 small forwards in assist ratio. On a positive note, he finished strong for the second straight season, averaging 17.9 points on 52.0 percent shooting in March before a foot injury prematurely ended his season.
Scouting report: Thornton is big, athletic and can shoot, but his basketball IQ is microscopic. He'll force long jumpers off the dribble early in the clock, goaltend shots several feet into their descent, and barrel out of control toward the basket. The latter was a common source of his 26 offensive fouls last season.
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