The Dallas Mavericks traded Danny Fortson to the Seattle SuperSonics for Calvin Booth, bringing back the 7-footer they once thought might help solve their woes at center.
Booth initially came to Dallas with Juwan Howard at the trade deadline in 2001. He played well the final 15 regular-season games, then in the playoffs hit one of the most memorable shots in team history with 9.8 seconds left that won a first-round series over Utah. The Mavericks had trailed 0-2 in that best-of-five series and were down 17 late in that game.
Dallas had hoped to re-sign Booth that offseason, but Seattle offered more than the Mavericks could because of the salary cap.
Mavs coaches remained fond of Booth, despite his three lackluster seasons with the Sonics. He never averaged more than 6.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 18.6 minutes, while missing 113 games, mostly because of injuries.
Last season, Booth played 71 games, starting 35. He averaged 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds, and led the team with 1.42 blocks.
Fortson was acquired last summer along with Antawn Jamison for Nick Van Exel. The burly rebounding specialist was never able to stay in coach Don Nelson's rotation. Fortson averaged just 11.2 minutes over 56 games, with 3.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Booth averaged 7.5 points on 55 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks during his first stint with the Mavs. Nelson envisioned the former Big Ten defensive player of the year fitting in nicely as a complementary player to the team's perimeter scorers. Now he'll get to try it again.
PICK WILL JOIN NETS: Former first-round draft pick Nenad Krstic will join the New Jersey Nets next season after reaching a buyout agreement with his European team. The 24th pick overall in the 2002 draft, Krstic is expected to sign his NBA contract today pending the transfer of his rights from Partizan Belgrade to the Nets and passing his physical, agent David Bauman said.
HASSELL SIGNS OFFER SHEET: Trenton Hassell signed an offer sheet with the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, giving Minnesota 15 days to decide whether it wants to match the offer and keep the restricted free agent. The Blazers did not disclose the terms of the deal, but Hassell's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said it was worth $27 million over six years. Hassell started 74 games for Minnesota last season after two seasons for the Chicago Bulls, who picked him in the second round of the 2001 draft.