Home   >   UK News   >   Basketball   >   Tayshaun Prince Traded to Memphis Grizzlies in 3 Team Deal

Tayshaun Prince Traded to Memphis Grizzlies in 3 Team Deal

By on January 30, 2013

tayshaun prince

The Detroit Pistons have announced they have traded former Kentucky Wildcat and NBA Champion Tayshaun Prince to the Memphis Grizzlies in a 3-team deal.

Here is the press release:

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The Detroit Pistons announce today that the team acquired guard Jose Calderon from the Toronto Raptors in a three-team deal that sends Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye to the Memphis Grizzlies.
“Trading a player like Tayshaun Prince, who has meant so much to our organization and contributed to our championship success, is never easy,” said Joe Dumars, President of Basketball Operations. “We want to thank Tayshaun for his professionalism and contributions over the last 10 years. We also appreciate everything that Austin Daye has done for our team both on and off the court over the past three-plus years. We wish both of them the best moving forward. We are pleased to welcome Jose Calderon, knowing that he fits our mold as a high character individual who is a great competitor. Jose is a great facilitator at the guard position and a player that we feel gives us tremendous flexibility on the court when added to the core of guards we have on the roster.”

Calderon, 6-3, 208, is averaging 11.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists (ninth in the NBA) in 45 games this season (30 starts). Last season, Calderon dished out 8.8 assists per game, which ranked fourth in the NBA, and led the NBA in assist/turnover ratio at 4.50. During the 2008-09 season, he shot a NBA all-time single season record .981 (151-154) from the free-throw line. Coming into this season, Calderon finished in the top-five assists leaders in the NBA in four of his previous five seasons: fourth in 2011-12 (8.8 apg), fifth in 2010-11 (8.9 apg), fourth in 2008-09 (8.9 apg) and fourth in 2007-08 (8.3 apg).

An eighth-year NBA pro from Spain, Calderon averaged a career-high 12.8 points in 2008-09 and has averaged career-high 8.9 assists in 2008-09 and 2010-11. He has averaged 10.0 points, 7.2 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 525 career games (323 starts). A two-time Olympic silver medalist with Spain’s national team, Calderon won medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and at the 2012 Games in London, England.

Prince, drafted 23rd overall by the Pistons in the 2002 NBA Draft, has averages of 12.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 769 career games (730 starts). He averaged a career-high 14.7 points during the 2004-05 season and has scored 1,000-plus points in a season six times. The 6-foot-9 forward ranks fifth all-time in franchise history in games played (769), eighth in points scored (9,838), 10th in assists (2,036), fifth in three-point field goals made (499) and seventh in blocks (440). A member of the Pistons’ 2003-04 NBA Championship team, Prince was also a member of the USA Senior National Team that went 8-0 to win the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Daye is in his fourth NBA season and holds averages of 5.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 206 career games (24 starts). Drafted 15th overall by the Pistons in the 2009 NBA Draft, Daye averaged career highs in points (7.5), rebounds (3.8) and games played (72) during the 2010-11 season.

Tayshaun is back into the playoff picture with this trade and I look forward to him making an impact in Memphis.