WASHINGTON — With his back against the salary-cap wall, Michael Jordan had to go to the last player on the bench to make his first trade.
Jordan and the Washington Wizards on Tuesday sent disgruntled center Ike Austin to the Vancouver Grizzlies for four players: Dennis Scott, Cherokee Parks, Obinna Ekezie and Felipe Lopez.
It's a start for Jordan, who became the Wizards president of basketball operations in January. Limited in his ability to deal the expensive contracts of his underachieving starters, he was at least able to get rid of an unhappy center who lost his starting job to Jahidi White and sat unused for much of the second half of last season.
"We are acquiring three quality young players with a proven veteran scorer," Jordan said. "And Ike Austin gets a new start."
The trade comes 12 months after the Wizards gave up four players — Terry Davis, Tim Legler, Jeff McInnis and Ben Wallace — to get Austin from Orlando. Austin was supposed to be the big man Washington had been missing for years. Instead, he averaged just 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds in 59 games.
"He gives us a very big body. He played for Chuck Daly (in Orlando). Chuck was very instrumental in setting up this trade," Grizzlies president Dick Versace said.
Versace didn't seem worried about Austin's poor second half to last season.
"I'm very impressed with his commitment to rededicate — those are his words — rededicate himself to being the kind of player that he once was," Versace said. "He's only 31 years old. He's got a lot of basketball left in him."
None of the four players acquired by the Wizards are big in impact potential. Scott is in the twilight of his career, while the three others will be role players if they make the roster.