Blazers acquire rights to Texas forward Greg Brown

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Portland Trail Blazers acquired the rights to Greg Brown, the No. 43 pick in the NBA draft, in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.

Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum announced that the Blazers sent a future second-round pick and cash to New Orleans, which selected the forward from Texas.

Brown started 24 of 26 games for the Longhorns last season. He averaged 10 points and nearly seven rebounds per game in Big 12 play.

The Blazers entered the night without any draft picks. The rights to their 2021 first-round pick were sent to the Houston Rockets in last fall’s trade for starting forward Robert Covington.

After their fourth first-round playoff loss in five seasons, general manager Neil Olshey hired former Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups to succeed Terry Stotts as head coach.

Stotts is the only coach star guard Damian Lillard has played for in the NBA. Lillard led USA Basketball with 21 points in Wednesday’s 120-63 victory over Iran at the Olympics in Tokyo.

Lillard has publicly stated he believes the Blazers must improve while denying reports that he is asking for a trade.