Reports: Celtics Acquire Tyler Zeller, Marcus Thornton, 1st-Round Pick In 3-Team Deal With Nets, Cavs
BOSTON (CBS) -- Trader Danny is off to a busy start on Wednesday.
According to reports, the Celtics, Nets and Cavaliers agreed to a three-team trade.
The Celtics will give up nothing in the trade, thanks to the trade exception they received by sending Paul Pierce to Brooklyn last offseason, and they will receive Tyler Zeller, Marcus Thornton and a first-round pick from Cleveland in 2016, according to ESPN's Marc Stein. The Celtics now have three first-round picks in 2016.
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski noted that it's a top-10 protected pick in 2016, 2017 or 2018 and unprotected in 2019.
Stein reported that the Nets acquired Jarrett Jack and Sergey Karasev from Cleveland, while the Cavaliers will get just a future second-round pick in return. The Cavaliers, presumably, made this deal to clear space for a free-agent acquisition ... perhaps one by the name of LeBron James.
Zeller, 24, has played two seasons for Cleveland, appearing in 70 games last year (starting nine of them). The 7-footer averaged 6.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
Thornton, 27, has five years of NBA experience with the Hornets, Kings and Nets. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard averaged a career-high 18.7 points per game with the Kings in 2011-12, but he averaged roughly 10 fewer minutes per game in the following two seasons, when his points per game dropped to 12.7 and 9.8. In his career, he's shot 43.1 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from 3-point range.
The Celtics now have even more assets to offer the Minnesota Timberwolves in their pursuit of All Star forward Kevin Love. The Celtics could have as many as nine first round picks over the next four years to offer up in any trade.
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