Jul 20, 2007, 18:20 GMT
Phoenix, AZ - The Phoenix Suns traded center Kurt Thomas and two future first-round draft picks to the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday in exchange for a future second-round pick.
Due to the trade, the Suns cleared $8 million of salary that can be used in future deals.
'We are doing everything we can to keep our core group together,' said Phoenix's president of basketball operations and general manager Steve Kerr. 'Sometimes in doing so, you have difficult decisions to make.
'We feel good going forward having our core group of players under contract for several years, including the recent addition of free-agent Grant Hill. The bottom line is there are tough decisions to make, but we have flexibility and our core together. We really like the group of players we've assembled and feel we can make a legitimate run for an NBA championship next season.'
The 34-year-old Thomas spent the last two seasons in Phoenix and averaged 6.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest in 120 regular season games during his tenure with the Suns.
Thomas, who was originally selected 10th overall by Miami in the 1995 NBA Draft, owns career averages of 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 747 career games with the Heat, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks and Suns.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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