MIAMI — The Miami Heat wanted to clear more cap space for free agency. The Oklahoma City Thunder wanted a shooter to boost their three-point corps.
What might be a win-win was struck Wednesday.
The Heat traded shooting guard Daequan Cook and the No. 18 selection in today’s draft to the Thunder, in exchange for the No. 32 pick. Cook was due to make about $2.2 million next season, and Miami no longer has the $1.2 million in a salary-cap hold for what was its first-round selection.
“With this move, we are continuing with what we set out to do the day we decided to rebuild the team,” Heat President Pat Riley said. “That is to put together the best team possible, and sometimes that process requires addition by subtraction. This is just one of many moves we have made to continue to build this team.”
So in short, the Heat found more money to spend when free agency opens July 1.
“We are pleased to add Daequan Cook to the Thunder roster,” Thunder General Manager Sam Presti said. “He will add depth and shooting to our backcourt.”
The Thunder ranked 25th in the NBA in three-point shooting last season, making about 34 percent. And Cook is a former NBA three-point shootout champion, although he struggled this past season and lost his spot within the Heat rotation.
Cook averaged 5.0 points in 45 games, hitting only 40 of his 126 three-point attempts.
The move leaves Miami with four second-round picks in today’s draft. And it positions the Thunder to make a splash on draft night. Oklahoma City holds three first-round picks - Nos. 18, 21, 26 - as well as the No. 51 selection.
LAKERS
Jackson to retire?
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Phil Jackson thinks he is just about ready to walk away from his unparalleled NBA coaching career. The Los Angeles Lakers are all hoping he will change his mind in the next week.
The 11-time NBA champion coach said Wednesday he is leaning toward retirement. After a full season of speculation on his health and future, Jackson will wait for the results of another battery of medical tests before informing Lakers owner Jerry Buss of his final decision late next week.
The 64-year-old Jackson is the most successful coach in league history by almost any measure, with a .705 regularseason winning percentage, a record 225 postseason victories and two more titles than Boston’s Red Auerbach. His Lakers beat the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last week to claim their second consecutive title, and Jackson sounds increasingly interested in going out on top.
“Some of it’s about health,” Jackson said. “Some of it is just the way I feel right now. I’ve had vacillating feelings about it. It’s hard not to feel like coming back when you ... have an opportunity to coach a team that’s this good, but it’s what I feel like right now.”
Jackson will drive to his off-season home in Montana this weekend. He didn’t attend the Lakers’ victory parade through downtown Los Angeles on Monday, instead undergoing tests on a body with two replaced hips, a sore knee requiring a brace under his suit during the season, and a previous heart problem. These accumulated woes and the NBA’s onerous travel schedule have prompted retirement thoughts for several years.
HORNETS
Paul trade? No way!
NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Hornets’ ownership on Wednesday sharply discounted the possibility of trading Chris Paul before today’s NBA Draft or at any point this off-season.
“Chris Paul is the cornerstone of our franchise and brings us unequaled support on and off the court,” Hornets majority owner George Shinn said in a statement released on both his and partner Gary Chouest’s behalf. “We will continue to build around Chris Paul, and we want to see him in a Hornets uniform for the remainder of his career.
“We have an exciting future. With the leadership of our new head coach and players like Chris Paul, we know the best is yet to come.” SPURS
Parker: Rumors normal
NEW YORK - Tony Parker said “of course” he expects to remain with theSan Antonio Spurs next season, but “we’ll see what happens.”
The point guard said he doesn’t care about rumors swirling regarding a possible trade.
“One more year left in my contract, so it’s normal,” he said Wednesday.
Parker was in New York for Steve Nash’s charity soccer game. Earlier in the day, the United States advanced at the World Cup, something his native France failed to do. Asked which country would win head-to-head, Parker asked, “Soccer?”
“U.S. right now,” he said.
“The last World Cup we made the final,” Parker said. “That’s why it’s kind of weird, this year out of the first round.” ODDS & ENDS
Bol funeral set
WASHINGTON - The funeral for former NBA player and humanitarian Manute Bol will be held Tuesday.
Sudan Sunrise executive director Tom Prichard said Wednesday that the service will be held at the Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital and will be open to the public.
Bol died Saturday at age 47 at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville after suffering from severe kidney problems and a painful skin condition.
Bol, who was 7-7, played 10 seasons in the NBA. He spent his post-basketball years working as an advisory board member of Sudan Sunrise, which promotes reconciliation in his native Sudan.
Sports, Pages 21 on 06/24/2010