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NBA trades - Mavs acquire Anthony Morrow at deadline

DALLAS – The Mavericks acquired Anthony Morrow from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Dahntay Jones just before the trade deadline, a swap of reserve swingmen with expiring contracts.

Morrow, a five-year veteran with a $4 million salary, averaged 5.2 points for the Hawks while appearing in only 24 games this season. He has averaged 11.5 points and shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range in his career.

“He’s one of the best shooters in the game,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “You can never have too many shooters.

“We want to thank Dahntay for what he brought to us over a period of four or five months. He brought toughness. He helped us win some games. He’s a pro, so he’s going to be successful wherever he goes. Atlanta got a good player and we got a guy we feel can help us stretch the defense even more.”

Jones averaged 3.5 points in 50 games for the Mavs, including 15 starts. However, he’s become a fringe rotation player recently, playing just 1:42 in Wednesday night’s win over the Orlando Magic.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Morrow, who spent two seasons with the Golden State Warriors and two with the New Jersey Nets, is likely to back up O.J. Mayo at shooting guard.

"It’s pretty clear that we were in the market for a shooter and we feel that we made a major upgrade," Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said.

Carlisle said he wasn’t certain whether Morrow would join the team in time for Friday’s game in New Orleans.

"Looks like I'm officially a Mav!” Morrow tweeted. “Thank you for all the welcome tweets! Can't wait to feel that AA center energy soon!!!!"