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Newspaper Accounts Of The Potapenko Acquisition: Bulpett, Holley, Beacon-Journal
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
DeClercq, No. 1 draft pick dealt for Cavs
strongman Potapenko
By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 03/12/99
ATLANTA - Andrew DeClercq boarded
the Celtics team bus last night
with the rest of his teammates, preparing
for a game against the Hawks. That was at
5:30. Thirty minutes later, the men
sitting next to DeClercq were former
teammates.
DeClercq became a member of the Cleveland
Cavaliers when the Celtics traded him and
a first-round draft choice for
6-foot-10-inch, 285-pound center Vitaly
Potapenko. Cleveland has the option of
taking the first-rounder this year or
next. The only condition is that the
Celtics retain their '99 pick if they wind
up with one of the top three choices in
the draft.
Celtics coach Rick Pitino has said all
season that his team needs size and a
defensive presence, which is what made
Potapenko attractive to the team. What
made him unattractive to the Cavs is his
contract status: He'll be a free agent at
the end of the season and the sides
couldn't agree on his worth. Potapenko
supposedly wants a deal averaging between
$6 million and $8 million per season; the
Cavs didn't want to pay that much for a
man who would essentially be backing up
Zydrunas Ilgauskus. So the trade was on.
''It's a great move for us,'' said Pitino,
who praised DeClercq for giving the team
everything he had, but added the 6-10,
245-pound DeClercq is ''really a power
forward.'' And everyone knew the Celtics
needed a center.
''The thing about Vitaly is that he's 280
pounds and can guard his own man [without
needing a double team],'' Pitino said.
''He may be the strongest player in the
NBA.''
The Celtics play in Detroit tonight, when
Potapenko is expected to join them. He
also is expected to move quickly into a
role as the team's starting center.
Although DeClercq is more comfortable at
forward, he will start for the Cavs at
center for the rest of the season since
Ilgauskus is hurt.
Cleveland coaches loved that Potapenko was
comfortable in the weight room. One
assistant even said the center, who will
be 24 in a week, is stronger than Karl
Malone. That's one reason Pitino said he
didn't mind giving up a protected
first-round pick, especially since ''there
isn't a center in the draft.'' Pitino
looked at the free agent list and saw
Olden Polynice was the only center. ''And
I think he would be looking for a little
more than the $2 million exception,'' the
coach said, referring to the only way the
Celtics would have been able to sign
anyone. As for being able to meet
Potapenko's contract demands, Pitino said,
''I'm comfortable that we'll be able to
sign him.''
The deadline for signing extensions this
season is tomorrow. If the Celtics don't
sign Potapenko - who is currently making
$1.42 million - by then, they'll have to
wait until after July 1. Potapenko is
averaging about 8 points and 5.5 rebounds
per game. He averaged 7.1 points and 3.9
rebounds last season. During his rookie
year, he was known as a scorer who didn't
want to defend. That drew the ire of coach
Mike Fratello. Recently, Potapenko has
improved his defense but still hasn't
established himself as an elite rebounder.
Pitino was asked if it hurt him to give up
the first-round pick, which the Cavs will
most likely take this year.
''This team doesn't need more youth,'' he
said.
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston
Globe on 03/12/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
Pitino deals for center: Gets Potapenko from Cavs
by Steve Bulpett
Friday, March 12, 1999
ATLANTA - The Celtics solved a glaring need yesterday,
acquiring 6-foot-10, 280-pound center Vitaly Potapenko
from Cleveland for Andrew DeClercq and a No. 1 draft pick.
The move, reported in yesterday's Herald to be in the
works, came to fruition just before the trading deadline
when the Cavaliers agreed to give the Celts protection on
the pick if it is in the top three this season. Celtics
coach Rick Pitino had balked on the deal because the Cavs
were holding out for an unencumbered selection.
``I was happy to get it protected to three,'' he said.
``That was the key. And the clincher was being able to
sign Vitaly. I think he'll be a Celtic for a long time. I
feel comfortable that we'll be able to sign him.''
The Celts hope Potapenko will be able to join them for
tonight's game in Detroit. He is a third-year player under
the original rookie wage scale who could be a free agent
this summer.
But he will not get there; the Celts have until midnight
tomorrow to sign him to an extension, and they will almost
certainly do so in a deal that begins in the $3.5 million
range.
As for the draft pick, Cleveland may take it in either
2000 or 2001 if not this June, but Pitino said last night
he is confident the Cavs will take this year's selection.
``Yes, because I think they feel we're going to be
better,'' he said.
After watching Charles Oakley slap Antoine Walker last
Sunday without response and after seeing Charles
Shackleford back in on the Celtic centers Tuesday in
Charlotte, Pitino wanted to fight back.
``It's what we need. We have to have a tough, physical
banger,'' he said. ``I tell you, this kid's tough. We've
researched him now for the last month, and he is a great
guy like Andrew, but he is a tough, hard-nosed guy. Don't
mess with this guy.
``Red (Auerbach) was saying we needed a guy like Bob
Brannum and this is that type of guy for us. He's prone to
foul a little bit, and that's something we've got to work
on, but he guards his own man without double-teams and
he's strong and tough.''
With Eric Riley the Celts' only true center, a move was
imperative. Pitino felt that with just a $2 million
exception to spend on a free agent pivot man, he had to
jump at this chance.
Potapenko was available because, with the Cavs having
spent big money on center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and power
forward Shawn Kemp, club management insisted it was not
going to pay him big free-agent dollars. In DeClercq they
get a capable backup with just $5.7 million left on his
contract the next three years (the $2.16 million in
2001-02 is at DeClercq's option).
``We tried everything humanly possible to get a center,''
Pitino said. ``We looked at the free agent list, and Olden
Polynice is probably the best name on it, and he's
probably going to want more than the $2 million exception.
We tried everything possible to get a banger, and we're
very, very excited with Vitaly because he's 280 pounds and
just last night he had (Phoenix center) Luc Longley
0-for-5.
``He can guard his own man. He's maybe the strongest
person in the NBA from a weight training standpoint. He's
also extremely physical - very rough, very rugged - and
probably what this team needs.''
The loss of the draft pick isn't an issue with Pitino now
that he knows he can keep it if the club misses the
playoffs and catches lottery lightning in a bottle.
``Protected to three, no I'm not concerned (about the
pick),'' Pitino said. ``I think that this team needs age,
not youth. I think right now we're too young. That's been
one of our weaknesses. Now were going after age and trying
to keep our young players intact if that's possible.''
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
HAWKS 99, CELTICS 85
Celtics lose, but help is on the way
Boston's deficiencies apparent as Hawks
show their muscle
By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 03/12/99
ATLANTA - The trading deadline has
passed and the Celtics now have
Vitaly Potapenko. He's a 285-pound center,
so he will help them. But it would have
been even better if the team in green had
extracted a center named Russell,
Chamberlain, O'Neal, or Duncan.
That must have been obvious to the 8,518
people who watched the Hawks dismiss the
lighter Celtics, 99-85, last night at
Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Most of the
fans who watched from New England already
know about the Celtic deficiencies, which
seem worse now that the team is 7-10 and
on a three-game losing streak.
So, yes, Potapenko is coming. He'll be in
Auburn Hills, Mich., tonight when the
Celtics play the Pistons. That's fine with
his new teammates. But they're probably
wondering, ''Hey, V, got anybody with
you?''
''I hope he's ready to work,'' Antoine
Walker said, ''because we sure need some
help here.'' Walker was asked if the trade
for Potapenko would affect him personally.
''They can bring in the Pope and it
wouldn't affect me,'' he said.
The Pope? He wouldn't be a bad addition to
the Celtics, either. He could certainly
offer some prayers for them, something
they could use if they still want to slide
into the Eastern Conference playoffs. But
we're not sure how much he could help the
Celtics' sagging rebounding.
Last night, the Hawks had a 55-37
rebounding edge. As you might have
guessed, Dikembe Mutombo led all
rebounders with 15. But when you have an
18-rebound advantage on a team, it usually
means that big guys, medium guys, and
small guys all are retrieving missed
shots.
That's what happened. Mookie Blaylock, a
6-foot-2-inch ''little'' guy, had 11
assists. He also had six rebounds. Steve
Smith, a 6-8 ''medium'' guy added four
rebounds. So the Hawks got 10 rebounds
from their starting backcourt - where
little guys roam - while the Celtics got
11 rebounds from their starting
frontcourt.
''But that's not why we lost,'' Kenny
Anderson said. ''We lost because all of us
are not playing good defense. Until we do
that, we're going to keep talking about
games like this.''
''There's not one person in the starting
lineup who is committed to being a great
defensive player,'' Celtics coach Rick
Pitino said. ''And that's a sign of
inexperience and youth.''
Every Hawk starter scored in double
figures for the first time all season.
Mutombo and Alan Henderson led Atlanta
with 18 points apiece.
''We have way too much talent to be losing
like this,'' said Walker, who had a
game-high 19 points. ''We're trying hard,
but trying hard isn't enough. We need to
execute.''
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston
Globe on 03/12/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
Cavs lose `V' in trade
* Vitaly Potapenko goes to Boston for DeClercq and a
first-round pick
BY CHRIS TOMASSON
3/12/99
Beacon Journal staff writer
Thanks to some 11th-hour manuevering,
Cavaliers will not lose center Vitaly Potapenko and
get nothing in return.
Just before the 6 p.m. trading deadline yesterday, the
Cavs traded Potapenko, scheduled to become a free
agent after this season, to Boston for 6-foot-10
center Andrew DeClercq and a first-round draft choice.
The Cavs can have Boston's pick in this year's draft
if it is not in the top three. The Cavs, though, would
have the option instead of receiving the Celtics'
first-round pick in 2000 or 2001.
``We had negotiated with Vitaly's agent (Curtis Polk)
up until a little while before the trade, and we
decided we were still far apart,'' Cavs president
Wayne Embry said. ``Vitaly's going to be a fine
player. . . . But we were unable to extend him.''
Potapenko, whose three-year, $3.7 million contract
expires at the end of this season, could have signed
an extension with the Cavs by tomorrow. But with the
Cavs offering nowhere near the $6-to-$8 million
Potapenko wanted per season, it was apparent he would
not re-sign now or after the season.
In DeClercq, a four-year veteran from Florida, the
Cavs get a player who will be the staring center or
power forward (if Shawn Kemp moves to center) for the
remainder of the season. He figures to be a backup
next season if center Zydrunas Ilgauskas returns
successfully from a broken foot.
Perhaps most importantly, DeClercq, 26, is signed
through 2001-02. DeClercq, who will join the Cavs for
tomorrow's game at Houston, is making $1.44 million in
the second year of a five-year $8.4 million deal.
The Cavs, who recently have signed Ilgauskas, Kemp,
Wesley Person and Bob Sura to big contracts, were in
no mood to give a huge deal to a future reserve such
as Potapenko.
The 6-10, 280-pound Potapenko, averaging 8.4 points
and 5.5 rebounds, did provide the Cavs with strength
inside. The 230-pound DeClercq, who is averaging 5.4
points and 4.5 rebounds, is not nearly the physical
presence.
``He's physically a different size, but he does a lot
of things in his own right,'' Cavs coach Mike Fratello
said. ``He knows how to stick his head in there. He'll
take charges and dive on the floor for loose balls.''
Embry admits the move could weaken the Cavs (8-9) a
bit for the remainder of this season. But Embry said
the team is ``thinking about the future.''
The Cavs could end up with a high draft choice since
the Celtics haven't made the playoffs since 1994-95
and are 7-9 this season. But Celtics coach Rick Pitino
believed it was a price worth paying for his
center-starved team.
``It's a great deal for us,'' Pitino said. ``We like
Vitaly. He's 280 pounds. He can guard his own man
without a double team. He may be the strongest player
in the NBA.''
Pitino is hopeful the Celtics will sign Potapenko to
an extension, either by tomorrow or at the end of the
season.
The Cavs continue to have 11 players on the roster.
Embry said one option is to sign forward Antonio Lang,
waived by the Cavs Wednesday, to a 10-day contract
after he clears waivers today.