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BOSTON -- Standout forward Antoine Walker apparently plans to stay with the
Boston Celtics instead of going to the Chicago Bulls as a free agent.

The Boston Globe reported Thursday that Walker has agreed to a six-year, $71
million contract extension with the Celtics and will sign the deal after the
NBA lockout ended Thursday.


The 6-9, 245-pound Walker is in the final year of his three-year rookie
contract.


Walker reportedly was high on the Bulls' wish list for next year's free
agent signing period.


Previous reports indicate that the 22-year-old Walker will have a new
teammate in 6-11, 240-pound forward-center Tony Battie, who apparently has
been acquired from the Lakers for center Travis Knight.


As for Walker, he is the main cog in the rebuilding program of Celtics and
coach-general manager Rick Pitino, who guided the budding superstar at
Kentucky.


"He's 6-10, 6-9½, and he has guard skills," Pitino told the Globe. "I also
think that if he works on his body, he can absolutely punish people inside.
That's something we'll be looking for him to do, to work on his body. He has
the type of body that can hold 255 pounds of muscle."


For Boston to improve on its 36-46 record and sixth-place finish in the
Atlantic Division in this shortened season, Walker will have to better his
field-goal percentage, which was just 42.6 percent last season. Despite the
low figure, he averaged 22.4 points and added 10.2 rebounds per game in his
second NBA campaign. He also chipped in 3.3 assists per contest.


Walker played all 82 games for the second straight campaign in 1997-98,
registering a season-high 49 points January 7, 1998 in a 110-108 loss at
Washington. No Celtic had reached that figure since Larry Bird in 1991-92.


The Globe also reported that the Celtics will rertain free agent forward
Popeye Jones. The 6-8, 250-pound Jones played 16 games for Boston in an
injury-plagued 1997-98 season, averaging 7.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per
game.


Battie was a member of one of the worst NBA teams of all-time, the 11-71
Denver Nuggets, in his rookie season last year. He contributed 8.4 points
and 5.4 rebounds per game in 65 contests before getting traded in the
offseason to the Lakers in the Nick Van Exel deal.


The Celtics were also hoping to sign free-agent center Michael Stewart, the
former Sacramento Kings who is a shot blocker, but lost out to the Toronto
Raptors, who inked him to a one-year, $1 million deal.