Nets Get Mutombo for Van Horn, MacCulloch

The Philadelphia 76ers traded 36-year-old center Dikembe Mutombo to the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday for forward Keith Van Horn and center Todd MacCulloch.

The 7-foot-2 Mutombo led the NBA in rebounding in 1999-00 and 2000-01 but averaged only 8.8 points in Philadelphia’s first-round playoff loss to Boston in April. Mutombo, an 11-year veteran, led the league in blocked shots in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96.

“With the addition of Mutombo we have the potential to be one of the best defensive teams in the NBA,” Net President Rod Thorn said. “To get a player of that ilk was something we felt we should do.”

The trade also will allow the Nets to move Richard Jefferson, who is coming off an impressive rookie season, into the starting lineup.

The addition of Van Horn, 26, gives Philadelphia another scorer who can--at least in theory--take some of the offensive burden off Allen Iverson.

“Allen said he needed two guys to score with him,” 76er Coach Larry Brown said. “Now, if he’s willing to take 20 shots instead of 30 shots per game, there will be lots of shots around for other people with the potential to score.”

Van Horn averaged a career-low 14.8 points last season and was conspicuously ineffective during several postseason games.

MacCulloch, 26, is coming off his best professional season, averaging 9.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in 62 games.

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Former UCLA guard Earl Watson became a member of the Memphis Grizzlies after the Seattle SuperSonics declined to match an offer sheet.

Watson signed the offer sheet July 19, and Seattle had 15 days to match the offer.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Watson’s deal will pay more than $1.2 million in the first season.

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Former University of San Diego Coach Hank Egan, who spent the last seven years as an assistant coach with San Antonio, has accepted a similar position with the Golden State Warriors.... A judge in Oregon City, Ore., rejected two arguments by prosecutors trying to justify a search of the home of Portland Trail Blazer guard Damon Stoudamire in which a large bag of marijuana was found. The decision could lead to the dismissal of the case.