Jawai Traded

Fresh from: basketball.net.au

MAVERICK JAWAI TRADED TO TIMBERWOLVES

Australian Boomers forward Nathan Jawai has been traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Minnesota Timberwolves less than a week before the start of the NBA's regular season.

The Mavericks received a conditional second round draft pick in 2012 and cash as part of the deal.

Jawai will get more opportunities for court time with the Timberwolves than he would have had at Dallas and is not worried about the frigid temperatures common in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”.

“I’m used to the cold weather after playing in Toronto,” Jawai told Basketball Australia.

“I’m finishing up a couple of games with Dallas and then heading to Minnesota at the end of the week.

“I’m looking forward to getting on court as the T’Wolves don’t have many big men and I’m excited about being in Minnesota.”

Jawai was the first indigenous Australian drafted into America’s NBA when he was chosen by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of last year’s draft.

He was subsequently sent to the Toronto Raptors where he overcame a health scare to appear in six games.

Jawai was then bundled into a four-team trade in July that took to him to Dallas along with All-Star forward Shawn Marion.

After representing Australia with distinction throughout the 2009 international program between June and August, Jawai returned to the US in September for the NBA pre-season where he received limited playing time at Dallas on a roster stacked with big men.

In Minnesota, injuries to Kevin Love (broken hand) and Al Jefferson (recovering from torn ACL) decimated the Timberwolves’ front line and opened the door for Jawai’s move north.

Minnesota’s President of basketball operations David Kahn said however that the Timberwolves were considering the Jawai trade before Love broke his hand.

"Nathan is a young project who likely will add depth to our roster at his position," Kahn said on the Timberwolves website.

"We were contemplating this trade prior to Kevin Love's hand injury, so this move is not intended to replace Kevin in the short term by any means. That would not be fair to Nathan. Rather, this move provided us an opportunity to work with a young player with size, and later determine if he could be a fit for us."

Australia has some history with the Timberwolves, with Basketball Australia and Sport Australia Hall of Famer Luc Longley drafted to the franchise with the seventh pick in the 1991 NBA Draft.

Longley was traded to the famed Chicago Bulls after two seasons with the Timberwolves and subsequently won three NBA Championships from 1996 to 1998 as a team mate of Michael Jordan.

In other NBA news, WA’s Luke Nevill was yesterday waived by Cleveland.

Nevill, a 7-foot-2 centre, averaged 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game over four games with the Cavaliers but received invaluable experience banging bodies at training with the legendary Shaquille O’Neal.

Nevill's departure leaves four Australians in the NBA: former number 1 draft pick Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks), power forward David Andersen (Houston Rockets), point guard Patty Mills (Portland Trailblazers) and Jawai.

The NBA regular season starts on October 28, Australian time, when Cleveland takes on Boston.

Houston opens its season on the road against Portland on October 28, Australian time, Minnesota hosts New Jersey on October 29 and Milwaukee opens its season on the road against Philadelphia on October 31.

Draft...the day after, Speculation time.

from BasketBloggin 27 June 2009

With the NBA Draft over and done with albeit hugely overshadowed by other world events in the last day, we can now take a look at who came out winners and who stuffed it up.

Winners:

Denver Nuggets-Ty Lawson was a steal with the 18th pick draft and trade deal. He will provide solid backup to Billups and Anthony and eventually become the teams leader from the point.

LA Clippers-Taylor Griffin was the stud of this years draft and the Clippers were right in taking him. He will have time to adjust and will have a healthy Kaman and Camby up front to help shoulder the load. Will this be enough for the Baron to return to being a productive team first player?

Memphis Grizzlies-Drafted well and could get immediate help from Carroll and Thabeet will be a dominant defensive force in the years to come. Young was also a second round steal.

Orlando Magic-though they had no draft picks, the trade to bring Vince Carter back to the Sunshine state will make all parties happy. The loss of Tukoglu may not be as tough as it once seemed.

San Antonio Spurs-No first round picks, no worries!! The Spurs made out like Bandits whether or not they keep or trade Blair, Jack McClinton can score with the best of 'em and the acquisition of Jefferson helps the team transform itself into more of a threat.

Philadelphia 76ers-The Sixers got a still when a lottery pick Jrue Holliday fell into their hands at pick 17.

Losers:

Chicago Bulls-Questions surround Johnson & Gibson.

Minnesota Timberwolves-Either a bad Chemistry experiment or stocking the shelves for a fire sale?? They are building, but what are they building??

Other Notes:

Shaq will again don the number 33 for the first time since his college days for his Cleveland debut next season.

Rubio did not show up at a Wolves press conference.

Turkoglu opts out of Orlando contract.

Next week I will start looking at the upcoming Under 19 World Championships, the WNBA, the local Aussie scene and a few other things.

Nelson says the Warriors will not trade Curry.

'til then ... shoot 'em if you're open and if not, drive and dish!!

Stop the Presses...There's tradin' afoot!!!

from BasketBloggin 24 June 2009

Before I write about more prospects today, I first must report there has been trading activity over the last 24 hours. The Minnesota Timberwolves have sent guards Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Washington Wizards for the number 5 pick of the Wizards and Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov. The Timberwolves now own four first round picks and are in an excellent position to wheel and deal even more before draft time.

Also in the last 24 hours, the San Antonio Spurs have gotten younger by trading for Milwaukee's Richard Jefferson. The Spurs sent Bruce Bowen (38), Kurt Thomas (36) and Fabricio Oberto (34) to the Bucks in the deal. The move is seen as a Bucks ploy to clear salary cap room for 2009-2010 as all of the players received have a short time left on their current contracts.

There is sure to be more activity between now and draft day so stay posted.