MIAMI — Eddie Jones and the Miami Heat got what they wanted, and the Charlotte Hornets at least got something.
The Heat and Hornets were on the verge of completing a nine-player trade Tuesday that will send All-Star guard Jones and Anthony Mason to Miami for P.J. Brown and Jamal Mashburn.
"This is a done deal," said Mason's agent, Don Cronson, after speaking with Hornets vice president Bob Bass. "The deal has been agreed to. The numbers have been agreed to. It's now a matter of technicalities and amenities."
The next step was a conference call involving the teams and the NBA to make sure the deal met salary cap requirements, Cronson said.
"There won't be a hitch, because I'm sure they've already gone over the numbers," he said.
The trade sends Otis Thorpe, Tim James and Rodney Buford to Charlotte, and Ricky Davis and Dale Ellis to Miami.
Tuesday was the first day of the NBA free agent signing period, which allowed Charlotte to sign Jones to a seven-year deal worth at least $86 million before sending him to Miami.
The Hornets were on the verge of losing Jones, 28, without compensation. He considered a free-agent offer from the Chicago Bulls but preferred to play in south Florida, where he grew up and has a home.
The trade ends Heat coach Pat Riley's long pursuit of a premier shooting guard. In recent years he failed to close deals for Latrell Sprewell, Mitch Richmond and Larry Hughes, with Brown, 30, and Mashburn, 27, perennially rumored to be trade bait.
The trade dismantles the core of a Heat team that has won four consecutive Atlantic Division titles but only one playoff series during that time. Miami was eliminated by the New York Knicks each of the past three years.
Riley was eager to acquire another scorer, and Jones averaged 20.1 points and 4.2 assists last season.
The deal reunites Riley and Mason, who had a sometimes stormy relationship when both were with the Knicks from 1991-95. Mason was suspended twice while he played for Riley and has had several run-ins with police, most recently when he was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest in New Orleans
Cronson said Mason, 33, is eager to play for Riley again.
"He always remembers Pat Riley gave Anthony his chance when he had in effect been rejected by the entire league," Cronson said. "Anthony said he wanted to stay in Charlotte, but he is going to a place that is run by a guy whom he has the utmost respect for."
The Hornets and Heat declined to comment on the trade, the second blockbuster deal between the teams. In November 1995, the Hornets sent Alonzo Mourning and two other players to the Heat for Glen Rice, two other players and a first-round draft pick.