Portland Trail Blazers pull J.J. Hickson off the waiver wire-NBA Regular News
J.J. Hickson, after being waived by Sacramento Kings on Monday climbed aboard with Portland Trail Blazers, they added him to their roster on the same day after picking him up off the waiver wire.
Blazers released Mehmet Okur, before throwing in rope for Hickson, the said move was made to create a necessary space for him on the team.
Portland’s general manager Chad Buchanan was hopeful that the forward will bring the required impetus.
"We like J.J.'s energy and physicality," Blazers acting general manager Chad Buchanan said in a press release. "He's a young, but experienced player who can help our frontline."
Hickson was drafted by Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 as 19th pick overall after struggling for a year he recorded his career high 23 points against Oklahoma Thunders on 2nd January,2009 then he tallied his career high 9 rebounds in February
24th same year against Memphis Grizzlies. He broke his record in 2010 by scoring 23 points against Minnesota Timberwolves. He went on to play for Cavs till mid 2011.
In June 2011 he was traded off to Sacramento Kings for Omri Casspi he went off shores to Israel for playing in their top league but returned shortly afterwards after playing one game, and now his journey has taken a new turn with Portland.
During this shortened season he has averaged 4.7 points and 5.1 rebounds starting 9 of 35 games he played so far.
Portland has observed a lot of transitions in their roster and management lately they had fired head coach Nate McMillan who was replaced by Kaleb Canales as interim coach. They traded Marcus Camby to Houston Rockets. The said trade brought Jonny Flynn and
Hasheem Thabeet on their bench while they also got a second round pick in the NBA draft.
They had also traded off Gerald Wallace to New Jersey Nets in exchange for Shawne Williams, Mehmet Okur and NBA’s first round pick.
Portland is currently on a downhill journey as they are resting amongst the bottom feeders in Western Conference, they have won 21 and lost 25 games in this season and are already out of the race for playoffs.
Trail Blazers are currently on a 2game losing streak and the most recent fiasco was in the match against Miami Heat, they lost the match 107-93 on Thursday.
Blazers were intrigued by Hickson’s athletic and physical skills, but the 4th year forward will have to prove his mettle in the remainder of this season and will be their restricted free agent in the summer.
Blazers, have a lot of expectations from him as Mike Born, the Blazers director of NBA scouting was all praise for his skills.
"He's a good young big who can play (power forward) and some small (centre)," said Mike Born, the Blazers director of NBA scouting. "He's athletic, a pretty good rebounder. If you look at what he did when he was in Cleveland, he did a pretty good job in
a structured role. This is an opportunity for us to look at a pretty good young player."
Only the time will prove if this enterprise turns out be prolific for both ends.
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