The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired guard/forward Omri Casspi and Sacramento’s first round pick (protected) in the 2012 NBA Draft from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for forward/center J.J. Hickson, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today.

Casspi, 23, played in 71 games (27 starts) during the 2010-11 season, averaging 8.6 points on .412 shooting, including .372 from three-point range, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 24.1 minutes per game. In his 27 starts, he increased his averages to 10.7 points on .435 shooting, 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 31.3 minutes per game. The 6-foot-9, 225-pounder was born in Yavne, Israel and became the first Israeli player to be drafted in the first round (23rd overall in the 2009 NBA Draft) as well as the first player from Israel to play in the NBA when he made his debut on October 28, 2009 at Oklahoma City. In his two seasons in the NBA, he has career averages of 9.5 points on .431 shooting, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 24.6 minutes per game in 148 games (58 starts).

The first round pick acquired from Sacramento is lottery-protected in 2012 (1-14). The pick is then protected in 2013 (1-13), 2014 (1-12) and 2015-2017 (1-10). If the pick is not conveyed by 2017, then Sacramento will convey its own 2017 second round draft pick to the Cavaliers protected (56-60).

“We want to thank J.J. for his hard work and contributions to the Cavaliers, both on the court and off the court in the community. This is another step in our on-going process to shape and position our team and roster for future growth and a platform for sustained success,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “We’re excited to add a young, talented, tough-minded player like Omri, that we feel is a good fit for our team and can help improve our perimeter group, while also being able to obtain another important asset with the additional first round draft pick.”

The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired a future second round pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the draft rights to forward Tanguy Ngombo, it was announced today by the team.

Selected by Dallas with the 57th overall pick in the second round of last week's draft, Portland gained the draft rights to Ngombo as part of the trade that sent guard Rudy Fernandez to the Mavericks.

The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired guard Raymond Felton from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for guard Andre Miller, while sending Rudy Fernandez and Petteri Koponen's NBA rights to Dallas as part of a three-team trade.

Portland also acquired the draft rights to Jordan Hamilton (taken 26th overall) and Tanguy Ngombo (taken 57th overall) from Dallas for Fernandez and Koponen. Hamilton's rights were then sent to Denver as part of the Felton trade and Portland is currently in discussions to trade Ngombo's rights.

"I want to acknowledge our basketball personnel staff for their hard work and thorough preparation for tonight's NBA Draft," said Trail Blazers Owner Paul Allen. "I thought it was a very good night for the Portland Trail Blazers and our fans.

"I also want to thank both Andre Miller and Rudy Fernandez for their contributions to the team these past few seasons and wish them all the best for the future."

The Miami Heat announced that they have made a qualifying offer to Mario Chalmers, making him a restricted free agent and giving Miami the opportunity to match any contract offer he receives.

Chalmers, a 6’2”, 190-pound guard, has appeared in 225 regular season games (132 starts) averaging 7.9 points, 3.7 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.45 steals and 26.7 minutes while shooting 40.9 percent from the field, 35 percent from three-point range and 77.8 percent from the foul line. Among Miami’s all-time leaders, he ranks eighth in steals (327), tied for ninth in three-point field goals made (272), 12th in assists (826), 19th in minutes (6,012), tied for 19th in games played (225) and 22nd in three-point field goal percentage (.350).