Nets Trade Anderson To Charlotte

Kenny Anderson’s desire to test the free-agency market at the end of the NBA season left the New Jersey Nets with no choice.

Facing the prospect of losing the former All-Star point guard and getting nothing in return, the Nets sent Anderson to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday in a four-player deal that continues the teams’ recent trend of blockbuster trades.

In return for Anderson and seldom-used swingman Gerald Glass, the Nets received guards Kendall Gill and Khalid Reeves.

Anderson rejected a six-year, $40 million contract at the start of the season, saying he hadn’t made up his mind on free agency. The two sides continued to talk in recent weeks, but the Nets wanted something done before the NBA trading deadline.

Getting Gill and Reeves gives New Jersey two young guards with multi-year contracts. Charlotte gets a player who has career averages of 15.3 points and 7.7 assists. However, Anderson has struggled this season and was shooting only 38 percent from the field.

Anderson’s departure will allow the Nets to move Chris Childs into the point guard starting position with Reeves and veteran Vern Fleming as his backups.

Gill, in his sixth season, should become the Nets’ shooting guard. He was averaging 12.9 points, shooting 48 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range, the kind of accuracy the Nets have lacked since Drazen Petrovic was killed in an automobile accident in 1993.

Reeves, Miami’s top draft pick in 1994, averaged 8.1 points and 3.1 assists in 20 games. The former New York City high school star was acquired by Charlotte in the Alonzo Mourning deal.