Friday 7 February 2020 04:19, UK
The LA Clippers landed a pair of players on Thursday to help boost their title chances, getting forward Marcus Morris Sr from the New York Knicks as well as guard Isaiah Thomas from the Washington Wizards in a three-team deal.
The teams confirmed the deals later in the day, after the trade deadline passed.
The Clippers sent guard Jerome Robinson to the Wizards while also sending forward Maurice Harkless and a trio of draft picks - a 2020 first-round pick, the Detroit Pistons' 2021 second-round pick and a 2021 protected first-round pick swap option - to the Knicks. Finally, Washington sent the draft rights to Issuf Sanon to New York to complete the deal.
Morris, 30, has averaged a career-best 19.6 points in his ninth NBA season and first with the Knicks. He has averaged 12.1 points and 4.7 rebounds over a 588-game career with the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Knicks.
Thomas, who turns 31 on Friday, has posted 12.2 points and 3.7 rebounds in 40 games (37 starts) with the Wizards this season. Over nine NBA seasons with the Sacramento Kings, Suns, Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Wizards, he has scored 18.1 points with 5.0 assists.
He was a two-time All-Star with the Celtics, scoring a career-best 28.9 points per game in 2016-17.
Harkless, 26, has been a solid role player in his first season with the Clippers, scoring 5.5 points with 4.0 rebounds while playing in 50 games, 38 of them starts.
In eight seasons with the Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers and Clippers, Harkless has scored 7.2 points per game with 3.7 rebounds.
Robinson, 22, has averaged 2.9 points and 1.1 assists in his second season in Los Angeles out of Boston College. He has posted 3.1 points per game in his two seasons with the Clippers.
Sanon is a Ukrainian-born 20-year-old whom the Wizards selected in the second round in 2018. Though he played for the Wizards in each of the last two Summer League seasons, he has yet to play in the NBA as he hones his game in Slovenia.
The Clippers entered play Thursday in second place in the Western Conference with a 36-15 record. The Knicks were 13th in the 15-team Eastern Conference with a 15-36 record.
The Clippers had opened a roster spot earlier Thursday by trading guard Derrick Walton to the Atlanta Hawks.
