HOUSTON (AP) - A person familiar with the deal says the Houston Rockets have acquired center Marcus Camby from Portland and Derek Fisher and a 2012 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers in separate trades.
The Rockets are sending point guard Jonny Flynn, center Hasheem Thabeet and a second-round pick to the Trail Blazers and forward Jordan Hill to the Lakers. The person spoke Thursday on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
The 6-foot-11 Camby brings a much-needed inside presence to the Rockets, who are 24-20 and currently hold the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. Fisher provides depth and championship experience to the point-guard spot. Goran Dragic has started the last four games in place of Kyle Lowry, who’s expected to miss 2-3 more weeks with a bacterial infection.
Fisher has spent 13 of his 16 NBA seasons with the Lakers and was part of five championship teams with Kobe Bryant. The Rockets play the Lakers in Houston on Tuesday.
The Rockets have been looking for big men since Yao Ming retired last summer. They were ready to trade Dragic, Luis Scola and Kevin Martin for Pau Gasol before the season, but NBA commissioner David Stern nixed the trade for “basketball reasons” on behalf of the league-owned New Orleans Hornets.
Houston signed Samuel Dalembert on the day after Christmas, and the addition of Camby now forms a formidable frontcourt trio with Scola.
Houston picked up Flynn in a trade with Minnesota last June. Flynn was the sixth overall pick in the 2009 draft. He had played more in the last week, after Lowry got sick.
The 7-foot-3 Thabeet has been a bust since the Rockets acquired him in a trade that sent Shane Battier to Memphis last February. Thabeet played a total of 23 minutes this season and had nearly as many fouls (5) as points (6).
Hill scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Houston’s 107-87 win over Charlotte on Wednesday night. Hill sat out the Rockets’ win in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night with flu-like symptoms and missed nine games between February and March with a right knee sprain.
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