The Nuggets, Rockets and 76ers agreed to a three-way trade Wednesday that sends James Posey to Houston, Kenny Thomas to Philadelphia and Mark Bryant and Art Long to Denver.

Denver also gets a conditional 2005 first-round draft choice from Philadelphia and a 2004 second-round pick from the Rockets.

Michael Murphy of the Houston Chronicle reports that Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich got the man he wanted in the deal. "This guy we're bringing in, James Posey, is a guy we've been watching a lot," Tomjanovich said. "I see him every morning when I go to work in the summer. He's a hard-working kid, he's professional, and he covers two positions. I've watched him on tape, and I think he helps us have a lot more depth at two positions."

Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia daily News reports that the Sixers are equally ecstatic. "We're getting a kid who works out with our guys in the summertime who we would have made a tremendous run at in the free-agency market," Larry Brown said. "I just think [Thomas] can play; he's unselfish, he can defend, he can rebound, he plays more than one position. He's a real team guy, he's got toughness. We've talked about him for years. We've tried ever since I've seen him in the league. I'd watch him play, I'd always think about him being part of our team."

Marc J. Spears of the Denver Post reports that the move was financial for the Nuggets. "We had the future of the franchise in mind," GM Kiki Vandeweghe said. "(Posey) is a free agent at the end of the season. He was going to explore the free-agent market. With how we've positioned ourselves with all the dollars we'll have for free agents next year, we would have a great difficulty re-signing him."

In order to make room for the trade, the Nuggets waived Kenny Satterfield and are expected to waive Long.