Trail Blazers acquire Jared Jeffries; send Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas to Knicks
The Portland Trail Blazers officially announced Monday afternoon that they have agreed to send point guard Raymond Felton and center Kurt Thomas to the New York Knicks in exchange for forward Jared Jeffries, center Dan Gadzuric, the rights to Greek players Georgios Printezis and Kostas Papanikolaou, a 2016 second-round pick and cash.
The deal was rumored to have taken place over the weekend but was made official by general manager Neil Olshey at a press conference. Don’t expect the Blazers to keep Gadzuric and will probably end up waiving him, it’s unknown whether or not they will keep the Greek players but Jeffries might end up being a locker room presence.
From the Portland Trail Blazers press conference:
“The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired forward Jared Jeffries, center Dan Gadzuric, the draft rights to Georgios Printezis and Kostas Papanikolaou, a 2016 second round draft pick and cash considerations from the New York Knicks in exchange for Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey.
Felton was signed by the Trail Blazers earlier today to facilitate the sign-and-trade transaction.
“This trade allowed us to acquire multiple assets for the future without impacting our current cap position,” said Olshey. “Jared Jeffries provides depth and a versatile skill to our front court. He is a consummate professional on and off the floor, competes every night and is a veteran leader for our locker room.”
Jeffries, 30, carries averages of 5.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 22.4 minutes in 10 seasons with Washington, Houston and New York. Last season with the Knicks, Jeffries averaged 4.4 points (41.0% FG), 3.9 rebounds and 18.7 minutes in 39 games (four starts).
Appearing in two games for the Knicks last season, Gadzuric, 34, posted averages of 4.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 14.8 minutes in 10 seasons with Milwaukee, Golden State, New Jersey and New York.
Printezis, 27, was originally selected with the 58th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by San Antonio. The forward currently plays for the Greek national team and professionally for Olympiacos in Greece.
Selected by New York with the 48th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Papanikolaou, 21, also plays forward for Olympiacos and the Greek national team. He led Olympiacos with 18 points, while Printezis hit the game-winning shot to go with 12 points in the team’s Euroleague Championship victory over CSKA Moscow in May.
In one season with the Trail Blazers, Felton, 28, averaged 11.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 31.8 minutes in 60 games (56 starts).
Thomas, 39, finished his lone 2011-12 season in Portland with averages of 3.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 15.2 minutes in 53 games (three starts).”
photos courtesy of blogs.thescore.com and sportsillustrated.cnn.com