Claxton

Davis

New Orleans - The New Orleans Hornets announced that they have acquired guard Speedy Claxton, center Dale Davis and cash considerations from the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Baron Davis.

“This trade, along with the trade we made earlier today with Philadelphia, shows that we are willing to take the necessary steps to gain the flexibility that will allow us to successfully build our team,” said Hornets General Manager Allan Bristow. “We feel that we now have a core of young, dynamic players that will not only mold into an effective unit for the rest of this season, but that we can also use as a base to build upon for the future.”

Claxton averaged 13.1 points, 6.2 assists (tied for 12th in the NBA), 3.3 rebounds and 1.89 steals (seventh in the NBA) in 46 games for the Warriors before being traded to the Hornets, while Davis averaged 3.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 36 games.

Claxton has three-and-a-half years of NBA experience with Philadelphia, San Antonio and Golden State. He signed with the Warriors as a free agent prior to the 2003-04 season after helping the Spurs win the NBA championship in 2002-03. He was originally drafted by the Sixers with the 20th overall pick of the 2000 NBA draft, but missed the entire 2000-01 season after suffering a torn left ACL in a preseason game. He spent the 2001-02 season with the Sixers, where he was classified as a rookie.

Dale Davis had spent nine seasons with the Indiana Pacers and four seasons with the Portland Trailblazers before he was traded (along with current Hornet Dan Dickau) to the Warriors in exchange for Nick Van Exel prior to the 2004-05 season. Davis owns career averages of 8.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 995 games and has shot .531 (3,483-6,556) from the field over his career. He was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team in 2000 and is the Pacers’ NBA-era all-time leader in rebounds and the franchise leader in field goal percentage.

Baron Davis had played in just 18 games for the Hornets this season, averaging 18.9 points, 7.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.72 steals. He missed 19 games (including 17 on the Injured List) with an inflamed disc in his lower back and 17 games with a bruised right Achilles tendon. Davis missed 15 games last season due to a sprained left ankle and 32 games during the 2002-03 season (20 due to left knee surgery, eight games due to back spasms, three games due to a strained left knee and one game due to rehabilitative purposes) after playing in all 82 games for the first three seasons of his career.

Davis averaged 15.3 points, 6.7 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.89 steals in 381 games during his five-and-a-half seasons with the Hornets. His best seasons with the team came in 2001-02 when he was named as an All-Star (and averaged 18.1 points, 8.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals while playing in all 82 games) and in 2003-04 when he was named to his second All-Star Team and averaged 22.9 points, 7.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.36 steals (first in the NBA) to earn All-NBA Third Team honors. Davis was originally selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft.