it's official

["JOKIMAN, NATHAN N." <nnjokiman@CSUPomona.Edu>]

according to bball.yahoo.com/nba:

Raptors send unhappy Anderson to Celtics in seven-player deal

Point guard Kenny Anderson refused to report to Toronto and has been
unloaded by the Raptors in
a seven-player deal with the Boston Celtics one day before the NBA trading
deadline.

The Raptors shipped Anderson, injured power forward Popeye Jones and
injured center Zan
Tabak to the Celtics for guards Chauncey Billups and Dee Brown and
forwards John Thomas and
Roy Rogers.

Anderson was acquired by Toronto in the six-player deal that sent point
guard Damon Stoudamire
to the Portland Trail Blazers last Friday. But Anderson refused to report
to Toronto and asked his
agent, David Falk, to instruct Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald to
work on a deal to ship
him elsewhere.

"While it wasn't a foregone conclusion that Kenny Anderson would be
traded, and we were
expecting to keep him even if that meant suspending him for reporting late
to Toronto, the trade with
Portland was structured in such a way that option could be contemplated,"
said Grunwald. "We
explored different possibilities before Boston stepped forward with an
excellent offer that enabled
us to add four quality players."

The acquisition of Anderson was attractive for the Raptors since Trail
Blazers owner Paul Allen
agreed to pay the entirety of his seven-year, $49 million contract. But
after Anderson vowed he
would not play for the Raptors, Toronto sent him to the Celtics and
extracted a package headlined
by Billups, the third overall pick in the 1997 draft, and Brown.

"Chauncey Billups was the first guard taken in the draft and is considered
one of the premier point
guard prospects in the league," said Grunwald. "Dee Brown is an
experienced player who gives us
veteran leadership in the locker room and can play either point or off
guard."

Anderson, who is making $5.01 million in the second year of his current
deal, averaged 12.6 points
and 5.4 assists in 45 games with the Trail Blazers this season. He led
Portland in scoring (17.7 ppg)
and assists (7.1) last season.

Anderson was originally selected with the second overall pick in the 1991
draft by the New Jersey
Nets. He played four-plus seasons with the Nets and is the club's all-time
leader in assists with
2,363. He averaged a career-high 18.8 points for New Jersey in 1993-94.

After rejecting a multi-year contract extension from New Jersey, the Nets
sent Anderson to
Charlotte in a four-player deal in January of 1996.

Anderson will replace Billups, who was not adjusting well to coach Rick
Pitino's up-tempo style in
Boston, as the Celtics starting point guard.

Jones is sidelined for the rest of the season after suffering a torn
anterior cruciate ligament in his left
knee in a November 30th game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 6-8, 250-pound Jones averaged 8.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in 14 games
for the Raptors this
season. He was acquired by Toronto from the Dallas Mavericks in July of
1996 and averaged 7.8
points and 8.6 rebounds in his first season with the Raptors last year.

Jones, a second round pick of the Houston Rockets in 1992, averaged
career-highs of 11.3 points
and 10.8 rebounds in 1995-96 for the Mavericks.

Tabak suffered a fractured right hand in a February 3rd game against
Phoenix and is expected to be
sidelined another two to four weeks.

The 7-foot Tabak was averaging 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds in 39 games
before being placed on
the injured list. He often started at center for Toronto and shared the
position with Oliver Miller for
the undersized Raptors.

A native of Croatia, the 27-year-old Tabak was selected 51st overall by
the Houston Rockets in
the 1991 draft but did not play in the NBA until 1994, when he was part of
the Rockets' second
straight NBA championship team. The Raptors picked him in the 1995
expansion draft.

The 6-3 Billups left the University of Colorado after his sophomore season
and was selected by
Pitino with the third overall pick in the 1997 draft. Billups immediately
moved in as Boston's starting
point guard after David Wesley signed as a free agent with Charlotte, but
has had problems
adjusting to Pitino's pressing style.

Billups is averaging 11.1 points and 4.3 assists in 51 games with Boston
this season. He is shooting
39 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range.

The 6-2 Brown, who is best known for winning the NBA Slam Dunk Competition
in 1991, was in
his eighth season with the Celtics. He averaged 15.5 points in 1993-94 and
a career-best 15.6
points in 1994-95, but has been bothered by knee problems over the last
three years. Brown
missed 68 games due to injuries last season after missing 17 games in
1995-96.

The 29-year-old Brown, a first-round pick in 1990, is averaging 6.8 points
this season. He is
shooting 43 percent from the field and 38 percent from three-point range.

Thomas, a first-round pick of the New York Knicks and the 25th overall
pick in the 1997 draft,
was acquired by Boston on October 22nd in a multi-player deal which sent
forward Chris Mills to
the Knicks.

The 6-9 Thomas averaged 3.3 points in 33 games for the Celtics this
season.

The 6-10 Rogers, a first round pick of the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1996,
was acquired by Boston on
October 28th. Rogers, who is currently on the injured list, has played
limited minutes in eight games
with Boston this season. He averaged 6.6 points and 4.7 rebounds in 22.5
minutes for the Grizzlies
last season.

"This trade, coupled with the Portland deal, clearly makes us a better
team," said Grunwald. "We
were the youngest team in the league and just got younger, now averaging
only 24 years of age."

The Raptors today placed guard Alvin Williams, who was acquired from
Portland in the deal for
Stoudamire, and guard Chris Garner on the injured list to make room on the
roster.

Williams is scheduled to undergo minor arthroscopic surgery on his right
knee Friday and is
expected to be sidelined two to three weeks. Garner is plagued by chronic
tendinitis of the right
ankle.