Lakers trade Vujacic, receive former 1st overall pick Smith
In a trade that was finalized on December 15th, the Los Angeles Lakers have traded away seldom-used guard Sasha Vujacic and their first round pick in 2011 to the New Jersey Nets in a three-team trade that also involved the Houston Rockets.
In exchange, the Lakers receive journeyman forward/center Joe Smith, a pair of second round picks (2011 - via Golden State, 2012 - via Chicago), and the draft rights to Ukranian Sergei Lishchuk.
Lishchuk was part of the Ukranian national team and was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2004, and is currently playing for Spanish pro club Valencia.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Nets sent troubled 2009 11th overall selection Terrence Williams to the Houston Rockets for a 2012 first-round draft pick (via New York).
In essence, the Nets are stocking up on draft selections in order to get into the thick of the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes. The Lakers sought to dump barely used Sasha Vujacic's expiring contract for luxury tax relief and another big man that would deepen their frontline, following Theo Ratliff's injury. The Rockets dumped the Knicks' quickly devaluing first round pick for a talented (but troubled) player in Williams.
'Azkals' lose to Indonesia in first leg of AFF Cup semis
The Philippine national team, affectionately known as the 'Azkals', conceeded a goal off a crucial communication error in the 30" and went on to lose by a scoreline of 1-0 to Indonesia in front of a hostile crowd in the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Thursday night for their 2010 AFF-Suzuki Cup semi-final series.
A miscommunication between goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and defender Ray Jonsson resulted in a goal by naturalized Uruguay-born player Kristian Gonzalez. Although the Philippine XI had various chances within the penalty area throughout the match, they failed to convert their chances thanks to the tight Indonesian defense.
For this matchup, the away goals rule has been waived, due to the rare "away-and-away" situation that the Philippines is experiencing. This means that the Philippines needs to shut out the red and white shirts by two goals in order to go through to the final round, where the winner of this series will face either Vietnam or Malaysia.
In related news, Philippine Football Federation media bureau chief Rick Olivares announced that the Philippines will host the 2012 edition of the AFF Cup. Details have not been released but it is a promising development for the growth of the sport in the northern regions of the country, where basketball has been the dominant sport.
It must be noted that football is popular in the southern regions of the Philippines, specially around Bukidnon, Bacolod, and Iloilo.
The second leg will be held on Sunday night, also in Jakarta.
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