Nets Trade Jackson and Gain Some Room to Maneuver
"By dealing forwards Marc Jackson and Linton Johnson III to the New Orleans Hornets for the 25-year-old forward Bostjan Nachbar just before the N.B.A. trading deadline yesterday, Nets President Rod Thorn was able to accomplish two things.
''This enables us to get under the luxury tax,'' Thorn said during a conference call, adding that the deal was subject to all players passing their physicals. ''And it gives us some flexibility.''
Thorn did not elaborate on what he meant by flexibility. But by dealing the 31-year-old Jackson, who will make $4.55 million this season, Thorn gave himself some maneuvering room to sign Tim Thomas, a former Knick, should the Chicago Bulls buy out his contract as expected.
Thorn was able to accomplish something else by including what he said was a small amount of cash in the deal with the Hornets.
''We still have both of our first-round picks'' for this summer's draft, he said.
The Hornets apparently became interested in Jackson after forward Jackson Vroman broke his right wrist Wednesday night, ending his season. The Hornets were already thin at forward after Chris Andersen was barred last month for violating the league's drug policy. ''Things really came together today,'' Thorn said.
The 6-foot-9 Nachbar, a native of Slovenia, was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 15th overall pick of the 2002 draft. In 25 games this season, Nachbar, who missed six weeks after spraining his right knee in November, averaged 5.0 points and 2.0 rebounds.
Nachbar, who is making $2.5 million this season and has two years remaining on his contract, has averaged 5.1 points and 2.0 rebounds in 155 career games.
The 6-foot-10 Jackson, who has one year remaining on his contract, was acquired by the Nets from the Philadelphia 76ers for future draft considerations last August. He appeared in 37 games for the Nets this season, averaging 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds.
The 6-foot-8 Johnson was signed as a free agent last September. He appeared in nine games, averaging 1.2 points.
The Nets-Hornets trade was one of just a few made yesterday, as the deadline came and went without any deals of the magnitude of the Knicks' trade for Steve Francis on Wednesday.
The biggest deal was a four-way trade by Seattle, Denver, Portland and Sacramento that included nine players.
The SuperSonics acquired Earl Watson, Bryon Russell, a 2008 second-round draft pick and cash from the Nuggets. Denver acquired Reggie Evans from Seattle, and Ruben Patterson and Charles Smith from Portland.
The Trail Blazers acquired Voshon Lenard from the Nuggets and Brian Skinner from the Kings. And Sacramento acquired Vitaly Potapenko from Seattle and Sergei Monia from Portland.
In other moves, Cleveland obtained Ronald Murray from Seattle for Mike Wilks and cash. The Cavaliers also acquired Lee Nailon and a 2006 second-round pick from Philadelphia for a conditional 2006 second-round pick.
The Miami Heat traded Gerald Fitch to Houston for Derek Anderson.
PISTONS 88, PACERS 83 -- Rasheed Wallace scored 11 of his game-high 28 points in a fourth-quarter surge to help Detroit defeat Indiana at home for the first time since April 4, 2004. Indiana won both games at the Palace last year -- the first ended early by an infamous brawl and the second delayed by a bomb threat.
MAVERICKS 97, GRIZZLIES 87 -- Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points as Dallas won a franchise-record 13th-straight game at home. Jason Terry added 23 points. The Mavericks' Josh Howard sprained his right ankle in the second quarter.
N.B.A. SUSPENDS TELFAIR -- Portland Trail Blazers guard Sebastian Telfair was suspended for two games for violating the league's firearms policy. A loaded handgun was found during a pre-flight inspection on the team's plane after a game in Boston earlier this month.
Telfair told authorities that the gun was his girlfriend's, and that he had grabbed her bag accidentally. No charges were filed and the team fined Telfair an undisclosed amount.
N.B.A. ROUNDUP"