They got Mercer AND Turkoglu!!
All-Star center Brad Miller will join the Sacramento Kings in a three-team, sign-and-trade deal that sends Scot Pollard and Danny Ferry to the Indiana Pacers, Miller's agent Mark Bartelstein said Thursday.
As reported earlier by SportsLine.com's Mike Kahn, the San Antonio Spurs are the other club involved, and they will get Hedo Turkoglu from Sacramento and Ron Mercer from Indiana.
Sacramento gives up Pollard, and San Antonio loses Ferry.
The 7-foot Miller, a free agent, was to sign a new seven-year, $68 million contract with Indiana, then be shipped to the Kings, Bartelstein said.
The agent expected the trade to be announced later Thursday. The Pacers said no announcement was scheduled.
"This has been like a giant jigsaw puzzle," Bartelstein said. "We've been trying to put the pieces together over the last couple weeks."
Messages seeking comment were left at the office of Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh and president of basketball operations Larry Bird.
Several calls to members of the Kings' front office were not immediately returned. Spurs spokesman Cliff Puchalski said the team wouldn't comment until later Thursday.
Brad Miller will flex his muscles out in the West with the Kings.(Getty Images)
Miller, who wasn't drafted when he left Purdue, averaged 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Pacers last season, making his first All-Star Game appearance. He went to Indiana from the Chicago Bulls in a seven-player trade in February 2002.
He was considered the best center still available on the free-agent market and had visited the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz.
Bartelstein said Miller wanted to stay in Indiana, where he grew up and played college basketball, but the Pacers were concerned about paying the NBA's luxury tax.
"When it became clear they couldn't do that because of the luxury tax, he wanted an opportunity to play for a contender," Bartelstein said. "He felt this would be a great situation for him."
The trade gives the Kings some extra bulk in the middle along with starting center Vlade Divac and power forward Chris Webber, who'll miss the start of the season after knee surgery.
Turkoglu is a 6-10 forward who has spent all three of his NBA seasons with the Kings and was the NBA's first Turkish-born player. He averaged 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds last season.
Pollard, a 6-11 forward-center, spent the last five seasons with Sacramento after playing for Detroit as a rookie. He averaged 4.5 points and 4.6 rebounds last season.
Ferry averaged 1.9 points and 1.2 rebounds for last season's NBA champions, while Mercer -- headed to his sixth NBA team since Boston drafted him in 1997-98 - averaged 7.7 points and 2.1 rebounds with the Pacers last season.
All-Star center Brad Miller will join the Sacramento Kings in a three-team, sign-and-trade deal that sends Scot Pollard and Danny Ferry to the Indiana Pacers, Miller's agent Mark Bartelstein said Thursday.
As reported earlier by SportsLine.com's Mike Kahn, the San Antonio Spurs are the other club involved, and they will get Hedo Turkoglu from Sacramento and Ron Mercer from Indiana.
Sacramento gives up Pollard, and San Antonio loses Ferry.
The 7-foot Miller, a free agent, was to sign a new seven-year, $68 million contract with Indiana, then be shipped to the Kings, Bartelstein said.
The agent expected the trade to be announced later Thursday. The Pacers said no announcement was scheduled.
"This has been like a giant jigsaw puzzle," Bartelstein said. "We've been trying to put the pieces together over the last couple weeks."
Messages seeking comment were left at the office of Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh and president of basketball operations Larry Bird.
Several calls to members of the Kings' front office were not immediately returned. Spurs spokesman Cliff Puchalski said the team wouldn't comment until later Thursday.
Brad Miller will flex his muscles out in the West with the Kings.(Getty Images)
Miller, who wasn't drafted when he left Purdue, averaged 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Pacers last season, making his first All-Star Game appearance. He went to Indiana from the Chicago Bulls in a seven-player trade in February 2002.
He was considered the best center still available on the free-agent market and had visited the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz.
Bartelstein said Miller wanted to stay in Indiana, where he grew up and played college basketball, but the Pacers were concerned about paying the NBA's luxury tax.
"When it became clear they couldn't do that because of the luxury tax, he wanted an opportunity to play for a contender," Bartelstein said. "He felt this would be a great situation for him."
The trade gives the Kings some extra bulk in the middle along with starting center Vlade Divac and power forward Chris Webber, who'll miss the start of the season after knee surgery.
Turkoglu is a 6-10 forward who has spent all three of his NBA seasons with the Kings and was the NBA's first Turkish-born player. He averaged 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds last season.
Pollard, a 6-11 forward-center, spent the last five seasons with Sacramento after playing for Detroit as a rookie. He averaged 4.5 points and 4.6 rebounds last season.
Ferry averaged 1.9 points and 1.2 rebounds for last season's NBA champions, while Mercer -- headed to his sixth NBA team since Boston drafted him in 1997-98 - averaged 7.7 points and 2.1 rebounds with the Pacers last season.
