Desmond Mason returning to OKC
Desmond Mason is coming back to Oklahoma City.
In a three-team trade expected to be announced later tonight, Oklahoma City will acquire Mason from the Milwaukee Bucks and veteran forward Joe Smith from the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to NBA sources. Oklahoma City will send point guard Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin to Milwaukee.
To complete the deal, Milwaukee will send point guard Mo Williams to Cleveland. The Cavs are also sending Damon Jones to the Bucks.
Mason, the former Oklahoma State standout who played in Oklahoma City from 2005-07 as a member of the temporarily-displaced New Orleans Hornets from 2005-07, has career averages of 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Mason, who will turn 31 in October, averaged 9.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 59 games last year with the Bucks.
Smith, the No. 1 overall pick in 1995, is entering his 14 NBA season. He has career averages of 11.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.9 blocked shots. He averaged 10.1 points and 5.2 rebounds last year in Cleveland and Chicago, where he played 50 games before his mid-season trade to the Cavs.
Both Smith and Mason have expiring contracts, which will give Oklahoma City more salary cap space next summer.
Mason would have been a part of a logjam at forward in Milwaukee after the Bucks traded for Richard Jefferson this summer and drafted West Virginia’s Joe Alexander in June.
Ridnour faced the same playing time quandary with Oklahoma City after it drafted Russell Westbrook and returnd veteran Earl Watson. Ridnour has two years remaining on his contract at $13 million.
The deal will free up more minutes for Westbrook, who showed flashes of his potential as the franchise’s point guard of the future in the Orlando Pro Summer League.
Mason and Smith also add veteran players to a young Oklahoma City roster. Both players are regarded as hard-nosed defenders and locker room leaders. Mason and Smith are also versatile players who can play and defend multiple positions, which is expected to add more flexibility to coach P.J. Carlesimo’s rotation.
More to come.
-DM-
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Comments
I remember Desmond got mad when the Bucks traded him before because they told him they wouldn’t do that. I wonder if he is happy about it happening again?
This is a great move. Ridnour has been on the decline and we all knew he was going soon because Watson was the better PG. Now Westbrook will start and Watson will get nice playing time and won’t have to share with Ridnour it works great for us to have two great PG’s. As for Joe Smith, he’s exactly what we needed, a veteran hardcore defender, we got too many young cats on our team (except Marshall) we needed the extra leadership. He will most likely play center, because Petro and Sene still aren’t ready in my opinion, they can both learn a lot from Smith and by the time Smith retires Petro and Sene both should be ready to step-up to their hype. I’m not sure if Smith will start but he should get nice playing time as well. Griffin on the other hand is a good defender but we have too many people better than him at his position, he wouldn’t have got much playing time. Insert Desmond Mason here, all I can say is hell yeah. Great defender, veteran and he’s from OSU. He should start at shooting guard and Kevin Durant can move up to small forward which is more of his natural position. With Durant, Mason, Green, and Wilkins we’re going to see some nice high flying action going on in Oklahoma City.
that’s great, but what do YOU think, DM? joe smith and desmond mason are kinda old, is this that great?
Actually, Donut, it is. Both of their contracts expire at the end of the season, and OKC got rid of a lot of salary. Even ESPN said OKC made out like bandits in this deal.
Shut up Ed Whitson. They are not the OKC Potatoes.