MIAMI, August 3 The Miami HEAT announced today that they have acquired All-Star forward Antoine Walker from the Boston Celtics, guard Jason Williams, forward James Posey, and guard Andre Emmett from the Memphis Grizzlies and the draft rights to center Roberto Duenas from the New Orleans Hornets in a five-team trade. The HEAT traded Eddie Jones to the Memphis Grizzlies, Rasual Butler to the New Orleans Hornets, and a 2006 second round draft pick, a conditional second round draft pick, Qyntel Woods and the draft rights to Albert Miralles to the Boston Celtics. Additionally, Memphis sent Greg Ostertag to the Utah Jazz and the Jazz sent Curtis Borchardt to the Celtics, Raul Lopez to the Grizzlies and Kirk Snyder to the Hornets.
We feel like with this trade we traded a lot, but we got back three quality players, said HEAT President Pat Riley. Antoine Walker is one of the very best multi-faceted, versatile players in this game. I think his numbers have shown throughout his career that he has been consistent year-in and year-out, providing points and rebounds. He is able to handle the ball, pass it, make plays, shoot threes and rebound the ball. There isnt anyone in this league better at doing that. I believe that he will bring a tremendous, versatile, play-making, scoring, rebounding dimension to our team. He is in his prime and I think he will pair up brilliantly with Shaquille, Dwyane and the rest of the team.
Outside of Steve Nash and Jason Kidd, there isnt a better open-floor, half-court playmaker in the league than Jason Williams. His ability to handle the ball, see the floor and hit the open man is as good as any point guard. He is a very athletic, quick, explosive scorer and has great experience. One of the reasons why we are making the trade is that we havent had anyone here like that since Tim Hardaway left.
James Posey is going to be the perfect compliment to Shaq, Dwyane, Walker, Williams, Udonis, etc. because he is a defense-oriented, slashing player who can run the break, play above the rim and will make the open three.
Walker, a three-time NBA All-Star, has averaged 19.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.39 steals and 38.8 minutes per game over the course of his nine-year career. He also has recorded 15 triple-doubles. During the 2004-05 season, he ranked 12th in the NBA in defensive rebounds per game (6.7), 14th in total defensive rebounds (513), 15th in rebounds per game (9.0) and 15th in double-doubles (31). He averaged 19.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.16 steals in 38.4 minutes per game with the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics, and helped Boston to an 18-9 record after his arrival. He joins new teammate Shaquille ONeal as one of only six players in the NBA last season to average at least 19 points and nine rebounds per game. Walker was originally drafted by the Celtics with the sixth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft.
Williams, entering his eighth year in the NBA, spent the last four with the Grizzlies. He has averaged 11.7 points, 6.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.37 steals in 31.6 minutes per game over the course of his career. During the 2004-05 season, Williams scored 10+ points 35 times, led his squad in assists 43 times, in steals 17 times and in scoring six times. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.07 ranked 16th in the NBA. He was originally drafted by the Sacramento Kings with the seventh pick in the 1998 NBA Draft.
Posey, entering his seventh year in the NBA, spent the last two seasons with Memphis. He has averaged 10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.32 steals in 28.6 minutes per game throughout his career. During the 2004-05 season, he played in 50 games and scored 10+ points on 19 occasions, had 10+ rebounds three times, led the team in rebounding four times, in assists three times and in scoring twice. Posey spent the first three-plus years of his career with Denver before being traded to Houston in December 2002. He then signed as a free-agent with Memphis in July 2003.
Emmett, the 35th overall selection in the 2004 NBA Draft, played in eight games for Memphis last season, averaging 0.9 points in 3.5 minutes per game. Prior to joining the NBA, he spent four years at Texas Tech, where he averaged 17.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field. He left Texas Tech as the schools all-time leading scorer (2,256 points) and became the first player in Big 12 history to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team in three consecutive seasons.
Duenas was originally selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 58th pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. His rights were then traded to the Hornets in June 2001 in exchange for their second round draft pick that year. He has played overseas for his entire career and won five league championships with FC Barcelona.
Eddie Jones has been the consummate professional through thick and thin, said Riley. He has been here for five years and I only hope and wish that he finds as much success in Memphis as he did the last few years here. I know he had fun and he was a major part of this. But in order to get something good back, you have to give up something good going out. I wish him nothing but the best.
Rasual Butler had a good season last year and it was a difficult decision to include him in the trade, but when you are dealing with five teams, there are a lot of names and numbers that have to work. I believe that by going to New Orleans, he is going to show people exactly why he is on the brink of being a starter in this league. He is a class guy and I wish him continued success.
We only had Qyntel for a short time here in Miami. He practiced hard and his dedication will help develop him into a successful NBA player.
Jones spent the last five of his 11-year career with the HEAT. He was originally obtained by Miami in a sign-and-trade deal on August 1, 2000 along with Anthony Mason, Ricky Davis and Dale Ellis in exchange for Jamal Mashburn, Rodney Buford, P.J. Brown, Tim James and Otis Thorpe. During his 11-year career, Jones has averaged 16.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.82 steals in 36.2 minutes per game. He is also a three-time NBA All-Star and a three-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection.
Butler, drafted by the HEAT with the 53rd pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, spent three seasons in Miami where he averaged 6.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 18.6 minutes. He finished the 2004-05 season ranked ninth on the HEATs all-time list in three-point field goal percentage (.358) and tied for 11th place in three-point field goals made (157).
Woods was acquired by Miami as a free agent on January 26, 2005. He appeared in three games for the HEAT last season, averaging 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game.
Miralles, obtained by the HEAT in a 2004 draft day trade, was selected with the 39th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft by Toronto Raptors. He was a member of the HEAT squad in the 2004 summer league. During the 2004-05 season, he played nine games with Vertical Vision Cantu in Italy, averaging 7.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19.2 minutes.