Mavericks send Bogut to 76ers in Noel deal

  Australian center Andrew Bogut has been traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Philadelphia 76ers in an NBA deal sending forward Nerlens Noel to Dallas.

As the league's transfer window slammed shut on Thursday ahead of the resumption of games after the NBA All-Star break, teams made final moves to tweak rosters for playoff runs or to reduce their payrolls in hopes of free agency spending next July.

The Mavericks confirmed the widely reported deal with Philadelphia, which sees the Mavericks also send guard Justin Anderson and a first-round NBA Draft choice.

The 22-year-old Noel used Twitter to thank Philadelphia fans for supporting him.

"To have such an amazing city embrace a kid from Boston coming out of Kentucky the way y'all did, is something I'll truly never forget," he wrote.

The arrival of Noel means Mavs veteran Dirk Nowitzki can move back from center to his more familiar role as a power forward.

"He's an athletic big, he's young, he's got a lot of potential," Nowitzki told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "He's a rim protector and he's long and he can finish around the rim."

Bogut, the top pick in the 2005 NBA draft, helped the Golden State Warriors win the NBA title two seasons ago and was part of last season's record 73-win Warriors team before being sent to Dallas to make salary room for Golden State to sign superstar Kevin Durant.

He had been shuffled to the bench last month after he proved a poor fit playing alongside Nowitzki.

A 12-year veteran, Bogut is averaging 3.0 points and 8.3 rebounds in 26 games and returned from a strained right hamstring to score four points and grab eight rebounds in a 98-91 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

The 76ers still plan to have a right foot scan Thursday on Ben Simmons, the Aussie playmaker who was taken with the top pick in last year's NBA Draft. Simmons has yet to play in the league after suffering a broken right foot in the 76ers' final training camp workout.

Turkish forward Ersan Ilyasova, enjoying a career-best season, was traded from the 76ers to Atlanta late Wednesday for injured Brazilian center Tiago Splitter, a second-round NBA Draft pick, and the right to swap second-round picks with the Hawks in June's NBA Draft.

- Help for Westbrook -

Oklahoma City added frontcourt help for NBA scoring leader Russell Westbrook, obtaining forwards Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott plus a 2018 second-round draft pick from the Chicago Bulls for reserve guards Cameron Payne and Anthony Morrow plus French forward Joffrey Lauvergne.

Gibson will be a free agent after the season and his departure came a day after Turkish forward Enes Kanter returned to Bulls practice for the first time since breaking his arm hitting a chair last month.

The Toronto Raptors, who faded to seven games behind defending NBA champion Cleveland in the Eastern Conference at 33-24, added forward P.J. Tucker from Phoenix.

The Suns filled the frontline gap by obtaining Mike Scott from Atlanta for cash and a future draft pick.

The Denver Nuggets added center Roy Hibbert in a deal with Milwaukee, which received a future second-round draft pick.

The Houston Rockets, with the NBA's fourth-best record at 40-18, made about $5 million in salary cap space by sending K.J. McDaniels to the Brooklyn Nets and Tyler Ennis to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Some of the marquee players who were the subject of trade speculation in the build-up to the deadline ended up staying put. The New York Knicks hung on to both Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose.

All-Star Paul George remained with the Indiana Pacers, despite preliminary inquiries from the Los Angeles Lakers.

source: AFP