A Walker trade doesn't add up

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A Walker trade doesn't add up

NBA Notes/by Steve Bulpett
Sunday, July 6, 2003








Any discussion of the Antoine Walker trade rumors needs to begin with one
simple declarative statement: Danny Ainge is not crazy.



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A little goofy, maybe, but not crazy.

The Celtics director of basketball operations has not yet come close to a deal
that would include Walker, and it's not like he's anxiously working the phones
trying to get him shipped out either. Nor have teams been on a heavy hunt for
the co-captain. It all comes down to a couple of sides of the same word:
value. Walker doesn't have much of it on the open market and Ainge won't
consider moving him without getting a bunch of it in return.

The reason Ainge could tell the media he wouldn't be making phone calls to try
to trade Walker is that he is well aware 'Toine isn't a hot commodity in the
NBA right now. He's coming off an ugly series against Kenyon Martin and the
Nets, and I spent a pretty fair amount of time at the Chicago pre-draft camp
answering general managers' head-shaking questions about his lack of
conditioning. Now add in the fact Walker has two more years left at maximum
salary. Not exactly a seller's market, eh?

Ainge certainly wouldn't want to diminish his value even further by
``shopping'' him, thus making it appear the Celts are willing to give him away
to get him gone. And they're not. Not at all.

In truth, this is a time to hold the line on Walker. The top wish of the
Celtics is - and has always been - for him to make the necessary improvements
and adjustments in his body and game (stuff of which 'Toine is well aware) and
realize his full potential here.

Looking in a different direction, Walker's value in the marketplace will only
improve. It's fair to assume a person of his competitiveness will bounce back
better from the New Jersey experience, and there is also the fact he has just
two years left on his contract and has been looking for an extension.

Ainge has said he's not willing to give him a new deal this summer but would
consider it next, which means Walker has even more than Celtic glory for which
to play this season.

And even if 'Toine has a year beneath his own high expectations, he will be
more valuable in a trade because teams could take a shot on him and then use
the salary cap space if things don't work out.

Clearly - excepting the proverbial offer that can't be refused - this is a
time to wait and see.

As for all the Walker rumors that have found their way into print and (mainly)
online, know that as of the Fourth, nothing has been as serious as intimated.