Just hours after announcing the loss of dynamic center Brook Lopez to a broken foot the New Jersey Nets have acquired veteran center Mehmet Okur from the Utah Jazz.
“Mehmet will give us added scoring and size,” said Nets general manager Billy King. “His ability to shoot the three will help space the floor.”
Okur, 32, is a nine-year veteran. He holds career averages of 13.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in 617 NBA games with Detroit and Utah. Okur averaged double figures in scoring in six of his last seven NBA seasons, including a career-best 18.0 points to go along with 9.1 rebounds in 2005-06.
The 6-foot-11 center played in just 13 games for the Jazz in 2010-11 due to Achilles and back injuries, averaging 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds.
Okur is not the athlete that Lopez is, nor the low-post scoring presence. He is more of a jump shooter who has made 573 3-pointers and has a .377 career shooting percentage from that distance.
The Nets surrendered a 2015 second-round draft pick in exchange for Okur.
Provided that he is healthy enough to play significant minutes Okur should help the Nets hold down the forte until Lopez is ready to return.