Cavaliers: Cavaliers Acquire Battie, Williams and Brown in Six-Player Swap with Boston

Cavaliers Acquire Battie, Williams and Brown in Six-Player Swap with Boston

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CLEVELAND, Dec. 15 – The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown and Eric Williams from the Boston Celtics in exchange for guard Ricky Davis, forward Chris Mihm, forward Michael Stewart and a second-round draft pick, Cavaliers President and General Manager of Basketball Operations Jim Paxson announced today.

The deal, contingent upon all players passing physicals, means the Cavaliers will have nine players in uniform tonight at Indiana. All three new Cavaliers are expected to join the team in Cleveland in time for Wednesday’s home game against the Houston Rockets (7:00 p.m. ET; Fox Sports Net Ohio).

Battie
“This was a great opportunity to add experience and toughness,” Paxson said. “Specifically, Tony and Eric are both veterans who have been part of the foundation of a team that has had some success in the postseason. That experience is something Paul (Silas) and I both felt would benefit us immediately and long term. With Kedrick, we’re getting another young, talented athletic player as well.”

Williams, in his ninth NBA season, is the Celtics top reserve, averaging 11.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.05 steals per game. At 31, the 6-8 forward becomes the Cavaliers oldest player. The 14th pick in the 1995 Draft by the Celtics, Williams has appeared in 503 career games with Boston and the Denver Nuggets. In only two seasons at Providence, he left as the 11th leading scorer in school history.

Battie, a 6-11 center, was the fifth overall pick of the Denver Nuggets in the 1997 NBA Draft. A teammate of Williams’ with both the Nuggets and the Celtics, Battie is averaging 6.0 points and 5.1 rebounds in 22 games (6 starts) this season and has averaged more than one blocked shot a game for his career.

Brown
Brown, 22, was a lottery pick by the Celtics in 2001 (11th overall), becoming the first junior college player to ever be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. This season, he is posting personal bests in nearly every statistical category, including points (5.2), rebounds (3.2), FG percentage (.455) and assists (1.2). The 6-7 forward, a native of Zachary, LA, is averaging more than 19 minutes per game.

Today’s trade marks the second deal between the Cavaliers and Celtics in less than a year.

On July 29, the Cavaliers sent Jumaine Jones to Boston in exchange for guard J.R. Bremer, center Bruno Sundov and a future second-round draft pick, which was conveyed back to Boston in today’s deal.