HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets will send Courtney Lee to the Boston Celtics as part of a multi-team, sign-and-trade deal, completed on Friday.
The Rockets will receive a second-round pick in next year’s draft from Boston (a pick that was originally owned by Charlotte), forward JaJuan Johnson, guard E’Twaun Moore and forward/center Sean Williams. Houston will also acquire the rights to guard Jon Diebler from Portland. The Celtics completed the deal by trading guard/forward Sasha Pavlovic to Portland.
Houston previously withdrew a qualifying offer for Lee, which made him an unrestricted free agent. The 6-foot-5 Lee played two seasons in Houston, averaging 9.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 139 games.
Yahoo Sports reported that Lee’s deal is for four years and $21.5 million. Lee, a first-round draft pick by Orlando out of Western Kentucky in 2008, announced that he had signed on his Twitter account earlier Friday, before the teams wrapped up the other details of the deal.
“Want to thank all the ppl in Houston friends and fans,” Lee wrote. “Enjoyed my time. Also would like to thank all the Cs fans for the love.”
Lee is a 38.6 percent career shooter from 3-point range and could fill the void left by Ray Allen’s departure. Allen, the NBA’s career leader in 3-pointers made, bolted from Boston after five seasons to join Miami.
“We are very excited that we were able to acquire Courtney Lee,” said Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations. “Courtney brings a vast set of tools on both ends of the court and will be a great fit on our roster.”
The Rockets, meanwhile, continued to reshape their roster after signing Jeremy Lin. Houston is also expected to sign Bulls center Omer Asik to a three-year, $25 million offer sheet.
The 6-foot-10 Johnson averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 36 games as a rookie for the Celtics last season. He was drafted 27th overall in 2011 by New Jersey and was traded to Boston. Johnson ranks second in Purdue history in blocks (263), fifth in rebounds (854) and seventh in scoring (1,919 points). He was named the Big Ten’s top player in 2010-11.
The 6-4 Moore was Johnson’s teammate at Purdue. He was chosen 55th overall by the Celtics in 2011. The 6-10 Williams has played for New Jersey, Dallas and Boston in 137 career NBA games. He was taken 17th overall by the Nets in 2007.
Diebler, a 3-point specialist, was a second-round pick by Portland in 2011. The 6-6 guard played for the Greek team Panionios last year after setting the Big Ten record for 3-pointers as a senior (114) at Ohio State.
BULLS: Bulls star Derrick Rose expects to return to the court soon. In a video posted on his Facebook page, the point guard says he’s been receiving therapy daily as he recovers from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee along with two tears in the meniscus cartilage. He says he is “going to be all right” and “should be back there on the court soon.”
Rose was injured late in a playoff-opening win over Philadelphia, and the Bulls bowed out in the first round. Team physician Dr. Brian Cole has said Rose could return around mid-January to early February or miss next season.
MEXICO GAME: The Orlando Magic and New Orleans Hornets will play a preseason game in Mexico City on Oct. 7.
The game will be a homecoming for the Magic’s Gustavo Ayon, a Mexican who was dealt from New Orleans to Orlando earlier this month.
There will be nine international games in October involving 10 NBA teams.
LEAGUE CHANGES: The NBA Board of Governors approved several changes in the use of video replay. Officials will now be able to check video replay on all flagrant fouls. They will also be able to use it in the final two minutes or in overtime on goaltending calls and to determine whether a defender was in the restricted area on charge and blocking fouls.
The league will also add small advertising patches to uniforms starting in the 2013-14 season.
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