Reports: Bucks dealing Magloire to Blazers for Blake

**Illusion** · 08-01-06, 11:00 AM

Bucks trade Magloire to Blazers for Blake, Skinner, Ha

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Former All-Star center Jamaal Magloire is headed west.

The Portland Trail Blazers on Monday acquired Magloire from the Milwaukee Bucks for point guard Steve Blake, forward Brian Skinner and 7-foot-3 center Ha Seung-Jin.

Magloire, 28, has one year left on his contract worth $8.3 million and was deemed expendable when the Bucks decided to move 7-footer Andrew Bogut to center. Last October, Milwaukee acquired Magloire from the New Orleans Hornets and used Bogut, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft, at power forward.

In Portland, the 6-11 Magloire will likely split time in the middle with Joel Przybilla, who was recently re-signed to a five-year contract.

"Jamaal is a talented, big body that will give us options in our frontcourt and help us be more competitive against the Western Conference big men," Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "He will be a strong addition to our ballclub and hopefully help us win more games."

Magloire, a 2000 first-round pick, had career averages of 9.5 points and 7.4 rebounds in five seasons with the Hornets before being traded to Milwaukee, where he averaged 9.2 points and 9.5 rebounds in 82 games.

Magloire emerged as an Eastern Conference All-Star in 2003-04 with career-high averages of 13.6 points and 10.3 rebounds.

"We are very excited to bring someone of Jamaal's stature to our organization," Trail Blazers president Steve Patterson said. "He made the All-Star team just two short years ago and was a big part of Milwaukee gaining a playoff spot in the East this past season. He's an excellent rebounder who gives up depth and talent up front, and you can never have too many quality bigs in the NBA."

The Bucks were shopping for a point guard after trading starter T.J. Ford to Toronto for forward Charlie Villanueva earlier in the month. Blake would likely serve as a backup to Mo Williams and allow Charlie Bell to play more time at shooting guard behind All-Star Michael Redd.

Blake, 26, went from third-string point guard to the starter by mid-December for Portland. He averaged 8.2 points and 4.5 assists in 68 games, including 57 starts.

"In Steve Blake, we added a talented point guard who had one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the league last season," Bucks general manager Larry Harris said. "Brian was a solid contributor to our team two years ago and, along with Ha Seung-Jin, will give us added size up front."

The Trail Blazers also traded point guard Sebastian Telfair to Boston earlier in the month, making second-year player Jarrett Jack the likely starter at the position in 2006-07. Dan Dickau, who was acquired in the deal for Telfair, and Sergio Rodriguez, a first-round pick in 2006, are the backups.

The 6-3 Blake had the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio (3.69) in the league last season and shot 41 percent from 3-point range. He will make $1.08 million in 2006-07 -- the final year of his contract.

Skinner, 30, played for Sacramento and Portland last season. He started five of 27 games with the Trail Blazers and averaged 3.8 points and 4.7 rebounds.

Skinner is due $5.4 million for the coming season, with a club option for 200708.

The 6-9 Skinner enjoyed his best season in 2003-04 with the Bucks when he averaged 10.5 points and 7.3 rebounds in 56 games. He signed as a free agent with Philadelphia after that season and then was shipped to Sacramento in the deal for Chris Webber.

A first-round pick in 1998, Skinner has also played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland.

Ha, who will turn 21 this week, is the first Korean to play in the NBA. He has appeared in 46 games with Portland over the last two seasons, averaging 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds.

Patterson said the team has no more particular deals in the works, and was mum about whether a move involving disgruntled forward Darius Miles was imminent. Miles asked coach Nate McMillan to be traded at the end of last season.