Indiana Pacers announce 8-player deal with Golden State Warriors

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers and Golden State have made an eight-player deal that would send troubled Pacers guard Stephen Jackson to the Warriors in exchange for Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy and two other players, the Pacers announced Wednesday.

The Warriors have agreed to trade forwards Murphy, Dunleavy, Ike Diogu and guard Keith McLeod to the Pacers for Jackson, forwards Al Harrington and Josh Powell and guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, the Pacers said in a statement.

"We feel we made a pretty significant trade for the franchise that will be good for both teams," Pacers president Larry Bird said in the statement. "We feel the players we got will make a significant difference in the franchise."

The move makes the Warriors more athletic in the frontcourt, which should better fuel Nelson's up-tempo game. They spent much of the summer trying to acquire Harrington, who returned to the Pacers from Atlanta after Indiana offered him more money. In Jackson, the Warriors get an athletic scorer who has a reputation as a locker-room problem.

Jasikevicius figures to replace McLeod as the Warriors back-up point guard.

Dunleavy, in his fifth season, averaged 11.4 points per game, and Murphy, a sixth-year veteran from Notre Dame, is averaging 8.9 points per game. Second-year player Diogu is averaging 7.2 points in 17 games, and McLeod, in his fourth season, averaged 5.3 points per game.

The players acquired from Golden State are expected to be on the bench when the Pacers host the New York Knicks on Saturday night in Conseco Fieldhouse.

News Source: Peninsula Clarion