Wizards deal All-Star Jamison to Cavaliers

(AP) — The Washington Wizards have traded All-Star forward Antawn Jamison to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The trade was announced Wednesday night as part of a three-team deal that also sent Wizards’ Drew Gooden to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The trade was the most recent effort in a near-desperate attempt by the Wizards to salvage a losing season, save money and perhaps rebuild for the future.

The Wizards were supposed to be an NBA playoff team this year with the return of All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas. However, Washington has played poorly in part because of bad team chemistry, which reached a low in December when Arenas brought guns into the locker room in connection with a dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton.

Arenas is now serving a season-long suspension. In addition, beloved team owner Abe Pollin died in November.

On Saturday, the 18-33 Wizards shipped Brendan Haywood, the Wizards’ longest-tenured player, to Dallas along with two-time All-Star Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson.

As part of the deal Wednesday, Washington received Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a 2010 first-round draft pick and the rights to Emir Preldzic, who was selected in the second round of last year’s draft from Cleveland.

The Wizards also received forward Al Thornton from Los Angeles.

Cleveland gets guard Sebastian Telfair from the Clippers.

“Antawn Jamison has been the embodiment of leadership on and off the court for this franchise for five-and-a-half seasons and we thank him for all he has done for the Wizards and the city of Washington,” Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said. “Unfortunately, our on-court results have not met our expectations and we felt it was necessary to make changes to improve our future and our financial flexibility. This trade accomplished both of those objectives.”

The deal gives Cavalier All-Star LeBron James a new All-Star sidekick.

Team officials hope Jamison will fit in between James and Shaquille O’Neal on a championship front line.

“Antawn is a great pro. We are very excited to have an experienced all-star player of Antawn’s caliber and character join us,” Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said in a statement announcing the trade. “He has the ability to add a special, unique dimension to our team with a strong inside presence and the ability to stretch teams defensively, while impacting the entire court.”

The Cavaliers had long coveted an athletic power forward who could play on the perimeter after they were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in last year’s Eastern Conference finals.

They had reportedly been involved in trade talks with Phoenix for Amare Stoudemire, but instead ended up with another former All-Star.

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