SAN ANTONIO -The San Antonio Spurs today announced that, in a three-team deal, they obtained forward Richard Jefferson from the Milwaukee Bucks. San Antonio sent Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas to Milwaukee and Fabricio Oberto to Detroit while the Pistons traded Amir Johnson to the Bucks.
“We are thrilled to add Richard Jefferson to the Spurs roster. He is a talented, athletic player - in the prime of his career - who can influence the game on both ends of the court. We think he is a great fit for our team,” said RC Buford, President of Sports Franchises for Spurs Sports & Entertainment. “Trades are often difficult and saying ‘bye’ to Bruce, Fabricio and Kurt is a tough thing to do. All three of them were valuable contributors to our success as well as good people. We thank each of them for their dedication, professionalism and willingness to always put team first.”
The 6-7, 225-pound Jefferson has appeared in 571 regular season games in his eight-year NBA career. He has career averages of 17.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
Following his junior year at Arizona, Jefferson was selected by Houston with the 13th pick in first round of the 2001 NBA Draft. In a draft night deal his rights were traded, along with the draft rights to Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong, to New Jersey in exchange for the rights to Eddie Griffin. Jefferson spent his first seven seasons with the Nets before being traded to the Bucks, in exchange for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, on June 26, 2008.
During the 2008-09 season Jefferson started all 82 games for Milwaukee. He averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 35.8 minutes. Jefferson shot .439 (537-1,222) from the field, .397 (116-292) from three-point land and .805 (417-518) from the line. He ranked 22nd in the NBA in scoring.
Jefferson, who turned 29 on June 21, enjoyed his best season during the 2007-08 campaign. He ranked ninth in the league in scoring averaging 22.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists while starting all 82 games for the Nets.
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