Stackhouse brings a career average 21.2 ppg to Washington. Will Fan/Wizards Photo AUDIO: Press Conference VIDEO: Stackhouse's comments

Washington Wizards General Manager Wes Unseld announced tonight that the team has acquired Jerry Stackhouse, Brian Cardinal and Ratko Varda from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Richard Hamilton, Hubert Davis and Bobby Simmons. Per team policy, terms were not disclosed.

“When you have the opportunity to add an All-Star player of Jerry’s caliber, you cannot hesitate on the chance to strengthen the team,” said Unseld. “We had to part with several players we were very high on, but we feel we have improved and this is the right fit at this stage of the development of our team.”

Stackhouse, a 6-6 shooting guard, just completed his seventh NBA season and has a career scoring average of 21.2 points per game. His career scoring average per game is the highest among anyone taken in the 1995 NBA Draft including Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace and Michael Finley. Drafted with the third overall selection in the 1995 Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Stackhouse had his best season in 2000-2001 when he finished second in the league in scoring with a 29.8 points per game average.

Cardinal, a 6-8 forward, was drafted by Detroit in the second round (44th overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft out of Purdue. He has played in 23 games in two NBA seasons and has career averages of 2.1 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He spent 60 games on the injured list last season, and averaged 2.1 points in eight games.

Varda, a 7-1 center, was signed by Detroit a free-agent from Yugoslavia on July 24, 2001. He spent 76 games on the injured list last season, scoring five points in six minutes in his only game of the year vs. Phoenix on February 12.

Hamilton, drafted 7th overall by the Wizards in 1999 Draft, spent three seasons with the Wizards. He averaged 15.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game in 28.8 minutes per game. He was second in scoring last season, with 20.0 points per game, behind only Michael Jordan.

Davis averaged 7.2 points per game last season, and 8.8 points per game overall in his 10-year career. He finished the 2001-02 season ranked 6th in the NBA in 3-point percentage (.452).

Simmons just completed his rookie season with the Wizards, averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 30 games. Drafted 42nd in the second round of the 2001 Draft by Seattle, he was acquired by the Wizards on June 27, 2001 in exchange for the rights to Predrag Drobnjak.