NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to trade veteran forward Dante Cunningham to Brooklyn for third-year guard Rashad Vaughn, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal — reached shortly before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline — has not been announced.
The 6-foot-6 Vaughn hadn’t even spent a week with the Nets, who acquired him and a second-round pick Monday in a trade sending centre Tyler Zeller to Milwaukee.
Vaughn played four minutes of one game for Brooklyn — a home loss to Houston on Tuesday. He was held out of the Nets’ loss in Detroit on Wednesday night. He has averaged 3.1 points in 134 NBA games since the Bucks selected him 17th overall in the 2015 draft.
The 6-8 Cunningham, a nine-year veteran, has played in 51 games for New Orleans this season, starting 24, and has averaged 5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
He added the 3-point shot to his repertoire in New Orleans, making 71 of 181 (39 per cent) last season. This season, however, his 3-point accuracy has dipped to 32 per cent (35 of 108).
Cunningham sat out New Orleans’ loss to Utah in the Pelicans’ last game Monday night.
The trade was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.
New Orleans plays next at Philadelphia on Friday night. The Nets resume action on Saturday when they host the Pelicans.
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