Clippers pick up a useful Nugget Sharp shooter Gallinari departs Denver for LA in three-team trade
DENVER — The Los Angeles Clippers acquired sharpshooting forward Danilo Gallinari from Denver as part of a three-team trade that also involved Atlanta on Thursday.
In the swap, Los Angeles sent Jamal Crawford, Diamond Stone, cash considerations and a protected 2018 first-round pick to the Hawks. The Nuggets receive a 2019 secondround pick from Atlanta.
Gallinari joins a Clippers team that recently traded Chris Paul to Houston, but agreed to a five-year deal with Blake Griffin. Los Angeles also has DeAndre Jordan in the frontcourt.
The 28-year-old Gallinari was selected by New York with the sixth overall pick in 2008. He wound up in Denver as part of the blockbuster deal in February 2011 that sent Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks.
A fan favorite, Gallinari averaged 16.2 points and made 535 3-pointers for the Nuggets. He missed the 2013-14 season as he recovered from a torn left ACL.
“Danilo has been a special player for the Nuggets organization as well as a prominent figure in the Denver community for the last six years,” said Tim Connelly, the president of basketball operations for Denver. “He was a consummate professional throughout his time with us and we want to wish him all the best as he begins this new chapter.”
The Nuggets made a splashy move in free agency by adding four-time All-Star Paul Millsap on a three-year deal worth $90 million. The 32-year-old Millsap gives the team a proven, defensive-minded veteran to work alongside up-and-coming big man Nikola Jokic.
Denver hasn’t made the postseason since 2012-13.
Crawford played for the Hawks from 2009-11. He’s captured the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award three times.
The 20-year-old Stone was acquired by the Clippers during a 2016 draft-night trade with New Orleans. He played in seven games for Los Angeles last season.
“As we continue to focus on maintaining flexibility and adding assets, this deal accomplished multiple goals and made a lot of sense for us,” Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk said. “First-round picks have great value and Diamond is an intriguing, young player to add to our group.”
King Carter
Free-agent Vince Carter, at 40 the NBA’s oldest active player, agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal with the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, US media reported.
The eight-time All-Star averaged 8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game for the Memphis Grizzlies last season and said in April he hoped to extend his 19-year career after becoming a free agent.
Carter helped the Grizzlies reach the playoffs, and his physical skills — including his spectacular dunking ability — were on display in their first-round series loss to the San Antonio Spurs, when he became the oldest player to start a playoff game since Dikembe Mutombo for Houston in 2008.
Carter, the fifth pick in the 1998 draft, was the 1998-99 Rookie of the Year with the Toronto Raptors.
Dirk Nowitzki has a deal with the Dallas Mavericks that sets him up to join Kobe Bryant as the only players to spend 20 seasons with one NBA franchise.
Nowitzki signed a two-year, $10 million contract on Thursday that carries a team option in the second season. A source with knowledge of the deal provided specifics on condition of anonymity because the team had not released the terms.
The agreement is similar to the one the Mavs and Nowitzki reached last year, although for significantly less money. Last year’s contract was for two years and $50 million, and the club declined its option before free agency opened this year.
The 39-year-old Nowitzki is no longer the primary option for the Mavericks, so a $5 million deal is more in line with his role on a roster that has become significantly younger since the start of last season.
Spurs sign Gay
The San Antonio Spurs have signed veteran forward Rudy Gay. Gay averaged 18.7 points last season in Sacramento but was limited to 30 games before rupturing his left Achilles tendon in January and having surgery a few days later.
Terms of the deal announced on Thursday were not disclosed.
The 6-foot-8 Gay has averaged 18.4 points in 753 career games. The No 8 pick in the 2006 draft out of the University of Connecticut joins LeBron James and Russell Westbrook as the only players with at least 13,000 points, 4,000 rebounds and 1,000 steals since 2006. He also has won a pair of world championships with the US.