Richard Jefferson will now by shooting for the Golden State Warriors. Photo by Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

A trio of former Arizona Wildcats will be wearing new uniforms after a flurry of trades at the NBA trade deadline.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost an ex-Cat when they traded forward Luke Walton to the Cleveland Cavaliers in order to address their need at point guard. The Cavs sent Ramon Sessions and wing Christian Eyenga to L.A. The key piece going back to Cleveland was a first-round 2012 draft pick.

Walton, 31 and bothered by injuries through much of his nine-year career, has played in only nine games this season. He has career averages of 4.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

The Lakers then sent veteran point guard Derek Fisher and a conditional draft pick to Houston for ex-UA forward Jordan Hill, who is in his third season in the NBA, averaging 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds this season.

And former UA forward Richard Jefferson is on the move from San Antonio to Golden State, which is a drop of about 10 games in the Western Conference standings.

The Spurs sent Jefferson and a conditional first-round pick for veteran wing Stephen Jackson, who also has an Arizona connection. He signed with the Arizona Wildcats out of high school but failed to qualify academically.

Jackson helped the Spurs win the NBA title in 2003, and this report from the San Antonio Express-News says that coach Gregg Popovich “has long valued his defensive toughness and outside shooting ability.”

Jefferson, in two-plus years with the Spurs, hasn’t been able to recreate the scoring averages he had earlier in his career with New Jersey. He had to adjust to more of a spot-up shooting role with San Antonio after previously relying more on his athleticism to penetrate and score.

Jefferson averaged 9.2 points and shot 42.1 percent from behind the arc this season.

“Now it’s tough to even get shots because teams don’t want to leave me open,” Jefferson said on Jim Rome’s radio show last month. “That’s a credit to all the people that have worked with me and helped me throughout the years.”

Jefferson did say that his adjustment in San Antonio — including tempering his on-court emotions — “hasn’t been easy.” He added: “There have been some tough nights. I know Pop has probably lost a little bit of sleep on a couple of nights trying to figure out the best way to get me going.”

Now, he’s just going.

Jefferson, 31, has a career average of 16.0 points per game.

Luke Walton fires a pass to Isaiah Fox in the 2002 Pac-10 tournament title game.
Photo by Francisco Medina, Tucson Citizen

The Arizona Wildcats have won four Pac-10 tournament championships, but none since 2002.

Rewinding the clock nine years …

The Wildcats beat USC for that 2002 conference tournament title, with junior forward Luke Walton earning Most Outstanding Player honors.

Walton had 23 points and eight assists in the title game, playing all 40 minutes in the 81-71 victory over USC.

“It just shows what type of player he is,” Arizona point guard Jason Gardner was quoted as saying by the Tucson Citizen’s Steve Rivera. “He’s finding players with the ball and leading the team. He did a great job for us.”

Arizona struggled against USC’s full-court press in the first half, committing 10 turnovers, but then coach Lute Olson moved Walton to the middle of the floor, where he could direct traffic and find open teammates.

“Luke is like our eyes on the court,” said freshman center Channing Frye. “We just move around, and Luke will find us.”

Gardner and shooting guard Salim Stoudamire, a freshman, were selected to the all-tournament team along with Walton.

Arizona reached the 2005 Pac-10 tournament title game but lost to Washington.

The Wildcats will play the Huskies on Saturday, looking for the first title since Walton led them to the trophy in 2002.

The Pac-10 tournament was held from 1987 to 1990 before being discontinued. The tourney resumed in 2002. Arizona won four in a row (1988, 1989, 1990, 2002) and has the most conference tournament championships in Pac-10 history.

Luke Walton has fond memories of the late Maurice Lucas. Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

Former Arizona Wildcat forward Luke Walton spoke with ESPN Los Angeles about his namesake, former NBA player Maurice Lucas, who died at the age of 58 because of bladder cancer.

Lucas was a great friend and Portland Trail Blazers teammate of Bill Walton.

(Unlike many men of Luke Walton’s age, he was not named after Luke Skywalker of the Star Wars saga. His first name is in honor of Lucas.)

Luke was asked how his dad described Lucas to him:

“He always told us the greatest two teammates he ever had were Larry Bird and Maurice Lucas. He had nothing but great things to say about him, on and off the court. His character. The person he was. It’s obviously tough, knowing my dad just lost one of his best friends. He always spoke very highly of him and every time we saw him, he was always great to us. A lot of fun to talk to. To hang out with. A big, loving, caring type of man.”

Read more of the Q&A at ESPN.com.

* * *

Santa Rita High School graduate D.J. Shumpert, who spent the past two seasons as a reserve with the Arizona basketball team, is at Division II Cal State San Bernardino. A wing with the Wildcats, Shumpert is listed as a center/forward at his new school. Some of his teammates have more girth, but no one is taller than the 6-7, 205-pound Shumpert.

* * *

Salim Stoudamire is getting another chance at professional ball. The former Arizona shooting star — way better than Duke’s J.J. Reddick in college — was taken with the last pick of the first round in the NBA Development League draft. He will play for the Idaho Stampede.

AOL Fanhouse reported that Stoudamire had a pre-draft agreement with the Stampede and circulated an e-mail that he would not play for another team. Stoudamire’s father, Charles, now lives in Boise.

“I’m excited to get to Boise,” Stoudamire said in a press release. “Not only will I get a chance to play organized basketball again, but also get to spend time with my family, which is always important to me. It’s a low-key city, everybody is really nice. I’ve felt a good vibe there.”

Stoudamire averaged 8.0 points for the Atlanta Hawks in 157 games spanning three seasons, 2005-06 to 2007-08. A groin injury contributed to his two years out of the league.

“The time off did give me the opportunity to grow as a human being, but still, being away from the game was tough,” he said. “My injury forced that, though. Now I’m excited to get back on the basketball court.”

He just turned 28 last month, and, presumably, he can still shoot … so Stoudamire should have a chance to hook on somewhere as a 3-point specialist.

* * *

What next for the major leagues career save leader? Former UA shortstop Trevor Hoffman, converted so brilliantly to a pitcher nearly 20 years ago, is a free agent at the age of 43.

The Milwaukee Brewers declined his 2011 option, choosing to pay Hoffman a $750,000 buyout rather than $7.5 million for next season. That was no surprise, considering Hoffman struggled last season and lost his closer’s role. Still, he made it to 601 career saves.

Will he take less money and less of a role to keep pitching somewhere in 2011?

Will anybody bite after he posted a 5.89 ERA?

* * *

Sonny Dykes

I think this will be a first: Two former Arizona offensive coordinators will face off Saturday as head coaches.

It will be Pat Hill and Fresno State’s team playing at Sonny Dykes’ Louisiana Tech team. Fresno State is 5-2 and still stands as a potential roadblock to Boise State in the WAC. Louisiana Tech is 3-5, and a win Saturday would be an important step toward bowl eligibility.

Hill was the offensive coordinator with the Wildcats in 1991, while Dykes spent the past three seasons in that job before moving to the Bulldogs after last season.