Knicks Acquire Al Harrington
NEW YORK, November 21, 2008 – The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that forward Al Harrington has been acquired from the Golden State Warriors in exchange for guard Jamal Crawford.
“I drafted Al back in 1998 and I think his talents are a great fit for our style of play,” Walsh said. “This trade also gives us more long-term flexibility while enabling us to remain competitive this season. To acquire a player of Al’s caliber, we had to give up someone we all really liked in Jamal. We thank him for his contributions both on and off the court, and we wish him all the best in Golden State.”
Harrington, 6-9, 250-pounds, was selected by the Indiana Pacers with 25th overall selection in the 1998 NBA Draft out of St. Patrick’s High School in Elizabeth, NJ. The Orange, NJ-native has career averages of 13.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in 660 career games over 11 NBA seasons with Indiana, Atlanta and Golden State. Harrington averaged 13.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in 81 games during the 2007-08 season with Golden State and is averaging 12.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in five games during 2008-09 campaign.
“Al is a true NBA veteran who possesses multi-positional skills,” Head Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He will fit perfectly into our system and will help us win some games immediately.”
Crawford, 6-5, 200-pounds, was originally acquired by the Knicks on Aug. 5, 2004 from the Chicago Bulls and averaged 17.6 points and 4.4 assists in 299 career games with New York. He finishes his Knicks career as the franchise’s 25th all-time leading scorer with 5,269 points. The Michigan product has career averages of 14.7 points and 4.1 assists in 543 games over nine NBA seasons with both New York and Chicago.
