Hornets, Grizzlies, Heat pull off three-team trade

The Charlotte Hornets acquired veteran swingman Courtney Lee from the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team trade that will help bolster the team’s perimeter shooting and defense after losing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for the season to a shoulder injury.

The Grizzlies got forward P.J. Hairston from Charlotte and big man Chris Andersen and two second-round draft picks from the Heat, who will get guard Brian Roberts from Charlotte.

The three teams confirmed the trade Tuesday night.

“He brings a lot of experience,” Hornets general manager Rich Cho said in a conference call. “He is a vet that is a true pro. He’s a great shooter and plays great defense.”

Hornets coach Steve Clifford coached Lee before in Orlando.

The Hornets went into the All-Star break in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, just ahead of the Detroit Pistons, who bolstered their roster on Tuesday by adding Tobias Harris from the Magic. Just seven games after Kidd-Gilchrist made a surprisingly early return from a serious shoulder injury, he suffered another shoulder injury, dealing a difficult blow to Charlotte’s defense.

Lee is in his eighth NBA season and has established a reputation as a coveted “3 and D guy,” a player who can knock down open 3-point shots while also serving as a capable defender on the wing.

“There are not a lot of those 3 and D guys around,” Cho said.

Cho said it’s unclear if Lee will start right away, but he expects him to play a lot of minutes.

The Grizzlies were in the market for help because of a serious injury themselves. Center Marc Gasol broke his right foot not long before the All-Star break, so Memphis is bringing Andersen in from the Heat to try to bolster its frontcourt depth. Andersen was a valuable role player during the Heat’s run to a championship in 2012-13 and back to the NBA Finals the following season. But he has played in only seven games this season.

The trade also gives the Grizzlies a chance to look at Hairston, a second-year forward who has shown potential but has also dealt with off-the-court issues. He has started 43 games for the Hornets this season, averaging 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game.

The deal also creates more flexibility going into this summer with Andersen in the final year of his contract.

The Hornets announced that Kidd-Gilchrist would have surgery Wednesday on his right shoulder.

Magic deal Harris to Pistons for two players

With a playoff spot within reach this year, the Detroit Pistons made a trade they hope will benefit them both now and in the future.

The Pistons acquired forward Tobias Harris from Orlando in a deal that sent guard Brandon Jennings and forward Ersan Ilyasova to the Magic. The 23-year-old Harris gives Detroit another athletic young player, and he’ll be under team control for a while. Harris signed a $64 million, four-year deal to stay with the Magic last summer, when he was a restricted free agent.

“This is a move that can be looked at as a long-term move, as one that will fit with our core group of players, and we’ll be able to keep them together,” Detroit general manager Jeff Bower said.

Detroit, which is a half-game out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, gave up its starting power forward in Ilyasova. Jennings was the Pistons’ backup point guard, and they could afford to part with him after making a long-term commitment to starter Reggie Jackson.

Detroit hasn’t made the postseason since 2009. Bower said the Pistons were interested in Harris when he was a free agent, but his restricted status made acquiring him hard.

The 6-foot-9 Harris is averaging 13.7 points per game this season, down from 17.1 in 2014-15. His 3-point accuracy is down to 31 percent after he shot a career-high 36 percent a season ago.

Harris thanked the city of Orlando, coach Scott Skiles and his teammates in a post on Instagram.

“God closes one door to open up another,” the post said. “Though this is not the easiest time it’s part of life and part of the business of being a professional.”

The Magic are also hoping to make a push for the playoffs, but they have lost 16 of 20 and are now in 11th place in the East.

“We felt like we needed to shuffle the deck a little bit. We needed to try to shake things up, not a ton, but we felt like the roster needed to be balanced in certain ways,” Orlando GM Rob Hennigan said. “I don’t think it’s been a secret that we’ve been looking for more veteran stability on the roster.”

The 28-year-old Ilyasova is averaging 11.3 points. The Pistons acquired him last offseason in a trade with Milwaukee. Jennings is averaging 6.8 points in 18.1 minutes a game. He returned in late December from an Achilles tendon injury that kept him out 11 months.