Swap gives C's money to maneuver

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(The last line of this piece says it all! Where will Blount play?)

http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/celtics/cnotes02212003.htm

Swap gives C's money to maneuver

Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett
Friday, February 21, 2003







SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Making deals will be easier for the Celtics this summer
and next season after acquiring a $2 million trade exception in yesterday's
transaction with Denver.




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For the next 365 days, the Celts can use that money, or any part of it, as a
wild card to facilitate a deal. Per NBA rules, the aggregate salaries of the
players on each side of a trade have to be within 15 percent of each other,
and the Celtics can now use up to $2 million to make that work.

It could be particularly helpful if the club is trading or taking back a
player from a high-salary bracket. Having the exception also makes the Celts a
desired partner in multiple-team deals, where they could receive a benefit
from facilitating a move for others.

To get the exception, yesterday's trade was actually a series of trades. Mark
Blount, who makes $762,435 this season, was acquired for the exception the
Celts still had from Joseph Forte in the infamous deal with Seattle last
summer. Mark Bryant, at $1.03 million, was taken for the No. 2 draft pick
(players on veteran minimum deals don't have to fit). The Nuggets are able to
take on Shammond Williams' $2 million because they are sending back an
aggregate within 15 percent. But seeing the Celts have already accounted for
Blount and Bryant, they come out $2 million ahead on the salary cap and thus
get the exception.

In terms of actual money to be paid, of course, all the above deals are
pro-rated to what's left on the contract for the approximately one-third of a
season remaining. The contracts for all three players involved are up at
season's end.

Walker pans brace

Antoine Walker doesn't like talking about his sprained right knee, but he
allowed that it's bothered him tremendously on the trip and that he will be
asking team physician Dr. Arnold Scheller to let him lose the brace once he
gets home.

``It's killing me,'' Walker said. ``I think my shot is gone because of it. I
don't jump that much, but that little push is important. When that fourth
quarter comes, man, that brace really weighs on you.

``I'm just trying to get out of it. Why don't you talk to Dr. Scheller and see
if you can get me out of it? I hope he can get me out of it or into something
thinner, something smaller.''

Walker said he will take the matter up with Scheller because, ``Obviously I
don't want to put Ed (Lacerte, the trainer) under that type of pressure. I
just want to abide by the rules until I can get back and see Dr. Scheller. I
know the knee is still not 100 percent, but I feel like the brace is a
problem.''

Williams upbeat

Interesting sight at yesterday's shootaround: Shammond Williams wearing sweats
over his Celtics practice gear, holding his cell phone to his ear with one
hand and shooting with the other.

``It's just how it goes,'' he said of the trade he'd learned about moments
earlier. ``I ain't mad at them. I don't know if they're mad at me or not, but
we get the opportunity to see each other March 22 (when the C's play in
Denver).''

As to his diminished role with the Celts after JR Bremer leaped from third to
first on the point guard depth chart, Williams said, ``That's not my job.
That's the coach's job. I just go out and play basketball. I think when you
look at when I came into games, even though I wasn't getting a lot of minutes,
we always made a run. I tried to push the lead and do things like that. I
think a lot of people look at what you do scoring, and on this team sometimes
it wasn't for me to score. My job was to help the team progress, and I think I
did that.''

Leaving a team in the upper half of the Eastern Conference for the Nuggets,
owners of the second-worst record in the league, is difficult, he
acknowledged.

``You want to play in playoff games, but in this situation (with Denver)
that's probably not going to happen,'' said Williams, who's in the last year
of his contract. ``But that doesn't mean that it can't happen in years to
come.

``It's tough just leaving a place where you could be going to the playoffs.
Some people may call it adversity, but I look at it as an opportunity. I've
just got to accept my role and do the best I can. I know I will, and hopefully
I'll be the type of player that can help turn that program around. I truly
feel like I'm a winner. I know how to win. ''

To make the move fit, Bruno Sundov went on the injured list. . . .

On Kedrick Brown's dwindling playing time, O'Brien said, ``The deal is that he
has struggled from the perimeter with his shot, and I'm putting players out
there that can knock down the 3.''

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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