INDIANAPOLIS - James Jones has left the Indiana Pacers and completed a sign-and-trade deal with the Phoenix Suns Thursday, Suns president Bryan Colangelo said.\nJones' new deal is for four years, with the fourth year at the player's option. Financial terms were not disclosed.\nThe Suns sent the Pacers a second-round draft pick in 2008 in exchange for the 24-year-old Jones, who was a restricted free agent.\nThe 6-foot-8-inch small forward averaged 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game last season and ranked 25th in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage at 39.8 percent.\nThe Pacers wanted to keep Jones, but they are about $10 million over the luxury tax threshold. Teams that exceed the $61.7 million threshold must pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on the excess.\n"We hate to let James go, but because of the balance of our team now, it is best for both he and our team to make this move," said Pacers CEO and President Donnie Walsh.\nJones started 24 games and played in 75 in his second season out of Miami. He scored a career-high 27 points last November against Seattle.\nWalsh said Jones was particularly strong when he stepped into the starting lineup. He averaged 7.1 points and 3.7 rebounds as a starter after Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal were suspended for the brawl with Detroit Pistons fans.\n"I think he certainly showed he could play when he got playing time," Walsh said.\nJones likely would have had a limited role with the Pacers this season because Indiana drafted New Mexico's Danny Granger in the first round.\n"That put a glut at the position," Walsh said. "There's only so much playing time that can go around."\nIndiana's loss is Phoenix's gain. Colangelo said Jones will thrive in the Suns' up-tempo offense. The Suns led the league with 110.4 points per game last season.\n"We think he's a perfect fit for our system," Colangelo said. "He's long, he's athletic, he's versatile and he's become a very proficient long-range shooter."\n
Former baseball star surrenders 3 days after fleeing
\nTAMPA, Fla. - Former Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball star Dwight Gooden, sought by police since he fled a DUI traffic stop three days ago, turned himself in at a county jail Thursday, police said.\nGooden, 40, showed up at the jail warrants facility about 5 p.m., police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. He had been missing since early Monday, when an officer pulled over his 2004 BMW near downtown Tampa on suspicion of drunken driving.\nHe twice refused to get out of the car for a field sobriety test, then drove away suddenly, police said.\nGooden, who has a history of substance abuse and currently has a domestic violence charge pending in court, was booked on a felony charge of fleeing police, and misdemeanor charges of DUI and resisting arrest without violence.\nHe was being held under a $3,000 bond, a jail spokeswoman said. McElroy said Gooden is scheduled to appear in court Friday morning for a hearing to revoke his bond on the March domestic violence charge.\n"We're relieved that he has come forward, and this may be the first step toward him getting the help he needs," McElroy said.\nPolice looking for Gooden had talked to his attorney, Peter Hobson, on Wednesday about the possibility of Gooden surrendering, but he did not indicate if or when it was going to happen, McElroy said.\nHobson contacted the Hillsborough sheriff's office earlier Thursday and made arrangements for Gooden to surrender, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.\nA call to Hobson's Tampa office was not immediately returned.\nTampa Bay Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella said Gooden's situation is sad.\n"He needs to get his life in order," Piniella said before Thursday's game against Cleveland. "He's a good young man. He just needs to get his priorities straight. He's got a long life ahead of him and a lot of people that care about him. The only problem is he's got to help himself."\nThe 1984 Rookie of the Year and the 1985 National League Cy Young Award winner while with the New York Mets, Gooden went 194-112 with a 3.51 ERA before retiring in 2001. He also pitched for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros and Devil Rays.\nGooden was arrested by Tampa police in 2002 on a drunken driving charge, but later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and received a year probation. He was arrested in March and charged with hitting his live-in girlfriend in the face during an argument.\nDuring his playing days, Gooden was suspended for 60 days in 1994 for testing positive for cocaine while with the Mets. He tested positive for cocaine again while on suspension and was sidelined for the 1995 season.\nHe recently worked for the Yankees as a special adviser but quit in April.
