Tyreke Evans, a Sacramento Kings restricted free agents and an intriguing asset has been dealt to the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-team trade, according to reports.
The Pelicans will receive Evans, and rookie center Jeff Withey out of Kansas, the Sacramento Kings get Greivis Vasquez from New Orleans and a second-round pick from the Portland Trailblazers, and Portland receives Robin Lopez from the Pelicans.
The Pelicans had offered Evans a four-year, $44 million offer sheet that the Kings did not seem eager to match. So instead, they worked out a trade and received value-in the form of one of basketball's most improved players during the 2012-2013 season.
In his third NBA season, Vasquez played 34 minutes per game, up from 25.8 the previous season. He scored 13.9 points per game and averaged nine assists and 4.3 rebounds on 43 percent shooting from the field. He also shot 34 percent from downtown, but wasn't a 3-point chucker (3.1 attempts per game).
For the Pelicans, they have added another playmaker to a team with an All-Star point guard in Jrue Holiday, a budding superstar at center in Anthony Davis, and a dynamic scorer at shooting guard, Eric Gordon, if he can stay on the floor.
Last year, on a dysfunctional Kings team, Evans scored 15.2 points per game to go with 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists. His performance has declined slightly each year from his 2009 rookie season, but at 23 years old a change of scenery, and culture, could be a spark that launches him back into the league's consciousness as a potentially elite player.
As for Portland, they got their starting center in Robin Lopez, an able post defender who can take the pressure off of natural power forward LaMarcus Aldridge. Portland has quietly amassed a cache of high-upside big men, with Aldridge, Thomas Robinson, J.J. Hickson and Myers Leonard on the roster.
The deal cannot be made official until July 10th.
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