The speculation from earlier about New Orleans being interested in Carl Landry was indeed true. Marc Stein of ESPN reported via twitter that Landry was indeed traded to New Orleans for Marcus Thornton and David Andersen. The deal is scheduled to be finalized tomorrow.
Landry was held out of tonight’s loss to the Miami Heat in anticipation of a trade, but it was not known where he’d be traded to until after the game. Landry leaves Sacramento almost exactly a year after he came to the team in a deadline deal involving Kevin Martin.
Landry will provide New Orleans with a nice low post scoring option, but due to his being an Unrestricted Free Agent, its unknown whether New Orleans would be able to retain him.
The Kings however, will be able to retain both Thornton and Andersen if they wish. Thornton signed a two-year contract as a 2nd round pick last year and as such will be a Restricted Free Agent, meaning the Kings could match any offers he receives on the open market. Andersen meanwhile has an unguaranteed contract next year, and will likely not be retained, as he was mostly used to make the numbers work.
Thornton could prove to be a big boost to Sacramento’s backcourt, especially with Tyreke Evans out for a while with injury. Thornton flourished last year as a rookie with Chris Paul out for most of the year, averaging 14.5 points in just 25 minutes a game. His numbers have dropped this year though to just 7.8 points in 16 minutes.