| | Associated Press
DENVER -- In a pre-draft deal, the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday sent forward Chris Gatling and the 37th pick to the Miami Heat in exchange for guard Voshon Lenard and forward Mark Strickland.
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| Lenard |
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| Strickland |
The 6-foot-10 Gatling, who has one year left on a contract that
will pay him $5.4 million this season, has been one of the NBA's
best sixth men, but he clashed with Nuggets' management last week
after speculation surfaced that he would be traded to Dallas.
He accused the Nuggets of not informing him about the
negotiations. When Nuggets director of player personnel Kim Hughes
said the team talked to Gatling, the player responded: "They are
lying. All the organizations I ever worked with, every time I got
traded, they at least had the dignity to call me."
Gatling, who was traded to the Nuggets from Orlando last
February, now has been traded six times in his nine-year NBA
career.
Nuggets coach and general manager Dan Issel said Gatling's
remarks were not solely responsible for his being traded but added,
"It doesn't help when a player calls you a liar. It's not a
healthy situation."
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| Gatling |
The 6-4 Lenard has shot 40 percent from 3-point range for his
career and beat the Nuggets with a late 3-pointer in a game this
past season. He played in 53 games last season, averaging 11.9
points, but he missed the final 26 games with a lower abdominal
strain.
The 6-10 Strickland averaged 4.9 points and 2.4 rebounds last
season.
"Lenard beat us with a 3-pointer this season, and that's the
kind of shooting we need," Issel said. "Strickland is not the
big, physical player we're looking for in the middle, but he's very
athletic. He probably isn't physical enough to play a lot of
minutes in the Eastern Conference, but he should play more in our
style."
The Nuggets are looking primarily for a center in Wednesday
night's draft, and Issel said that focus hasn't changed.
"We might get one of those big guys in the draft to bring along
slowly, and we might sign a free agent in the meantime," he said.
Heat coach Pat Riley said the trade helps the Heat's salary-cap
situation.
"Gatling gives us great offense coming off the bench," Riley
said. "I coached Gatling before, and I think he's one of the more
prolific players coming off the bench. This past year, we had
problems with long scoring droughts when we went to the bench. Gat
gives us a different dimension."
Riley said it was "hard for me to trade Strickland, but I got
the feeling he wants more minutes and he may get that in Denver.
They play a more open style than we do. Voshon has proven he can
shoot the ball, but we've been without him most of the last two
years with injuries."
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