The Golden State Warriors have acquired forwards Eduardo Najera and Christian Laettner, the draft rights to guards Luis Flores and Mladen Sekularac (Ma-LA-den SHOCK-u-LAR-ac), two future first round draft picks and cash considerations from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for re-signed center Erick Dampier, center Evan Eschmeyer, guard Dan Dickau, and the draft rights to Steve Logan, it was announced today by Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin.
“We're glad that we were able to consummate a deal with Dallas that was beneficial from the Warriors perspective and allowed us to achieve our objectives,” said Mullin. “We acquired quality players who can help our team now and several prospects that bode well for our future. Our focus now will be on the next two months and preparing ourselves for the upcoming season.”
Najera, 28, appeared in 58 games last season with the Mavericks, averaging 3.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in a career-low 12.4 minutes per game. He averaged 7.3 points and 7.8 rebounds when logging 20-plus minutes (eight times), highlighted by an 11-point/11-rebound performance against Washington on December 2. Originally a second round choice of the Houston Rockets in the 2000 NBA Draft (38th overall), the 6’8” Najera has spent his entire four year NBA career with Dallas after his draft rights were traded to the Mavericks on draft night. He enjoyed his most productive season in 2002-03, averaging a career-high 6.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and shooting a career-best and team-leading .558 from the floor (129-of-231 FG). The Mexican-born, University of Oklahoma product has appeared in 208 NBA regular season games overall, sporting career averages of 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.4 minutes, while shooting 50.9% from the field.
Laettner, 35, is a 12-year NBA veteran who has averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.08 steals over 819 career regular-season games with Minnesota, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas and Washington. He has spent the last three-plus seasons with Washington, including this past year when he averaged 5.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 20.5 minutes over 48 games. The 6’11” forward was traded from Washington to Dallas as part of a four-player trade on June 24, 2004. The former Duke standout was named to the 1997 Eastern Conference All-Star squad during a season in which he averaged 18.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 82 contests for Atlanta.
Flores, 23, was originally selected by the Houston Rockets in the second round (#55 overall) of the 2004 NBA Draft. His draft rights were subsequently traded to Dallas on draft night for the draft rights to the Mavericks' second round pick (#50 overall), Vassillis Spanoulis. Flores, 6’2”, played his final three collegiate seasons at Manhattan after transferring from Rutgers and finished his career as the Jaspers' all-time leading scorer (1,260 points), averaging 24.3 points per game over his final two seasons. A native of the Dominican Republic, he was named MAAC Player of the Year and MAAC Tournament MVP as a junior and a senior.
Sekularac, 23, was originally drafted by the Mavericks in the second round (#55 overall) of the 2002 NBA Draft, but has remained in Europe for each of the past two seasons. Overall, the 6’8’’ guard/forward has played professionally in Europe for seven seasons. A three-time Yugoslav All-Star (1999, 2000, 2001) during his five-year stint with FMP Zeleznik, he was a member of the Yugoslavian National Team from 2000-2002. After playing one season for Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna in Italy in 2002-03, he spent this last season with Buducnost in his native Serbia & Montenegro.
Dampier, 30, appeared in 74 games with Golden State last season, averaging 12.3 points and 12.0 rebounds 32.5 minutes per game. An eight-year NBA veteran, Dampier has appeared in 497 games during his career, averaging 8.9 points and 7.2 rebounds (.450 FG%). He became an unrestricted free agent on June 25, 2004 when he exercised an early termination option in his contract.
Eschmeyer, 29, missed the entire 2003-04 NBA season due to multiple knee surgeries. He was acquired by the Warriors from the Mavericks last summer (8/18/03) in a nine-player transaction.
Dickau, 25, was acquired by the Warriors from Portland, along with Dale Davis, in exchange for Nick Van Exel on July 20, 2004. In 93 NBA games with Atlanta and Portland, the Gonzaga product has averaged 3.0 points and 1.3 assists in 8.7 minutes per contest.
Logan, 24, was selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2002 NBA Draft (#30 overall) but never signed a contract with the team. He was a consensus First Team All-American as a senior at Cincinnati in 2001-02, averaging 22.0 points per game.