INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Shawne Williams is getting a new start in the NBA.
Dogged by three incidents involving police in the past 13 months, the 6-foot-9 forward has been traded by the Indiana Pacers to Dallas for future draft picks, cash and possibly another player, his agent said Friday.
Williams will be reunited with new Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who coached the Pacers when Indiana drafted him out of Memphis in the first round in 2006.
“He’s excited to get to a team and get a new shot and kind of get reinvigorated,” agent Happy Walters said. “He loves Larry (Bird), so he’s sad to leave Larry and the Pacers because he has friends there, but he’s excited with a new start.”
Walters said Indiana would get two second-round draft picks as part of the trade.
Williams was not immediately available for comment and will fly to Dallas on Saturday, Walters said.
Williams started only six games in two seasons with Indiana, averaging 5.6 points and 2.3 rebounds.
ficer found marijuana in the SUV he was driving. He pleaded guilty to driving without ever having received a license, and a drug charge was filed against a passenger. The Pacers suspended Williams for three games.
Last February, a murder suspect in Tennessee was arrested shortly after leaving Williams’ suburban Indianapolis home, then in July, police arrested a passenger in Williams’ car for marijuana possession. Williams was not arrested but was written up for window tint and seat belt violations.
“I think the Carmel police were kind of like following him around constantly, almost harassing him,” Walters said. “So I think it (the trade) is an opportunity for him to get away from that type of thing as well, because I think he was being unduly singled out a little bit.”
Bird, the Pacers’ president, said publicly after the most recent incident that Williams’ career with the team was in jeopardy.
Earlier this week, Williams said the publicity surrounding his run-ins with the law painted a false picture of him.
“People that know me know that I’m a good person,” he told The Associated Press. “Hopefully, the people that don’t know me get to know me and know that I’m a good person.”
He said he also hoped to rehabilitate his image.
Williams, who played only one season at Memphis, has made steady progress as a pro, Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said.
etball player,” O’Brien said before the trade. “I don’t think there’s anything from a basketball standpoint that displeases me.”
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