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Walker Trade Needs A 3rd Team; More Moves on the Way; Miami Interested in Mercer
Way Of The Ray wrote:
Michael Holley says Walker and the C's are cool to each other....
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
Walker trade needs some help
Third team would make it possibility under
cap
By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 08/05/99
If this were a different NBA,
Antoine Walker would be a former
Celtic by now. He would be in Indiana,
swapping Boston stories with Larry Bird.
But this is the league which features a
quirky thing called base-year
compensation, which essentially means
this: The Celtics and Pacers most likely
have to find a third team to pull off any
deal for Walker and Dale Davis.
That's one reason Walker's agent, Mike
Higgins, said yesterday that he is not
concerned about his 22-year-old client
being mentioned in several trade
scenarios.
''It's something I'm not even thinking
about right now,'' Higgins said. ''The
last thing I'm worried about is Antoine
being traded.''
It is known that the Celtics have called
several teams in the league, trying to see
what their interest might be in the
6-foot-9-inch forward. They initiated the
call to the Pacers, who plan to stay
competitive while rebuilding. Indiana has
already begun that process by trading for
18-year-old Jonathan Bender and bringing
along 19-year-old Al Harrington. They
would like to acquire Walker and let him
blend in with veterans such as Mark
Jackson and Reggie Miller.
The problem is that Walker's $71 million
contract cannot fit under the Pacers'
salary cap. The most obvious route around
that obstacle is a three-way trade. One
team that could help is the Clippers, who
have salary room and another player -
Lorenzen Wright - the Pacers like. But
even if that worked, the Celtics could be
facing a snag of their own. Apparently,
the 30-year-old Davis heard about his
potential trade to Boston and went to
Pacers management with a message: He won't
report to the Celtics if he is dealt.
Trading Walker was not one of the team's
end-of-season priorities, but this has not
been the best summer for the Celtics and
Walker. The team and the player have been
cool with each other the past few weeks,
just as Ron Mercer and the Celtics became
detached before the 6-foot-7-inch guard
was traded. In fact, some in the
organization perceived it as a swipe when
Mercer watched the Celtics in the LA
Summer League but refused to sit with the
team. Mercer was traded to the Nuggets
Tuesday.
The Celtics clearly are not done trading.
They have 14 players signed to contracts
and still plan to add another free agent
(they like 6-5 swingman Ruben Patterson).
Speaking of Mercer, it might not be a good
idea for him to get too comfortable in
Denver. Tuesday night, it appeared that
Mercer and the Nuggets were close to a
six-year contract extension. If that
extension comes, the man paying the salary
might be Heat owner Micky Arison. Shortly
after the Celtics dealt Mercer to the
Nuggets, Pat Riley called Dan Issel
expressing an interest in Mercer. Mercer
did not appear at a news conference
yesterday in Denver, saying he would not
unless an extension was offered, which
Issel claimed has not occurred.
Material from the Associated Press was
used in this report.
This story ran on page C03 of the Boston
Globe on 08/05/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.