The following is a press release from the Houston Rockets of the NBA concerning a trade made today with the Los Angeles Clippers. The trade brings forward Josh Smith back to Houston.
Rockets Acquire Forward Josh Smith
HOUSTON – Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has acquired forward Josh Smith via trade from the Los Angeles Clippers along with the draft rights to forward/center Sergei Lishouk and cash considerations in exchange for the draft rights to forwardMaarty Leunen. Smith will wear #5 for Houston.
Smith (6-9, 225) was originally the 17th overall pick by Atlanta in the 2004 NBA Draft and is in his 12th season, averaging 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.23 steals and 1.96 blocks in 868 games played with 766 starts. He appeared in 32 games with one start for the Clippers this season.
This will mark Smith’s second stint with the Rockets. He signed as a free agent with Houston on Dec. 26, 2014 and saw action in 55 games with seven starts the rest of the season, averaging 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.24 blocks in 25.5 minutes per game. Smith scored 14 points in the fourth quarter during the Rockets comeback against the Clippers in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals, forcing the decisive Game 7, which Houston also won to advance to Conference Finals for the first time since 1996-97.
Smith recently picked up the 1,700th block of his career and has the sixth-most blocks among active players. He is one of 10 players in NBA history with at least 1,700 blocks and 1,000 steals along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing, Kevin Garnett, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Parish, David Robinson and Ben Wallace (steals and blocks became official stats in 1973-74).
Lishouk (6-11, 250) was originally the 50th overall pick by Memphis in the 2004 NBA Draft. The Ukrainian native is currently playing for UCAM Murcia in the Spanish ACB League.
Main Photo via sportsworldreport.com
