Re: [Celtics' Stuff ] Mitch Lawrence Article on AW trade possibilities.

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

Great article. Note, Hardoo, that desperation is setting in....Can't figure 
what they could do to up the offer.... Except, Vin Baker, we never knew ya...

DJessen33

<< Trade for 'Toine? In a New York minute, yes
 
 By Mitch Lawrence
 Special to ESPN.com
 
 People talk about the New York Knicks getting Antoine Walker in a
 trade as if it would be just the latest in a series of blunders by
 Scott Layden.
 
 You know why. Walker stands outside and jacks up too many 3-pointers.
 He's a high-turnover player. He doesn't deliver in the fourth quarter.
 He comes up short in the playoffs. He's a sub-40 percent shooter.
 
 Yes, Walker has a lot of warts to his game. But have you checked out
 the Knicks lately? They've been cracking more than a few mirrors
 themselves over the last two seasons.
 
 Since Patrick Ewing's Knick career peetered out and Jeff Van Gundy
 quit, it's been one ugly mess in the Garden. Ownership refuses to
 rebuild. The Knicks are in that place no team wants to be.
 
    
 The Knicks would make the playoffs with Antoine Walker playing point
 forward.

 
 No-man's land.
 
 They're not good enough to make the playoffs, not even in the wretched
 Eastern Conference. But they're also not bad enough to get LeBron
 James, Darko Milicic or Carmelo Anthony -- a top-three pick who can
 have a immediate impact.
 
 So they're stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity, winning 30 and 37
 games the last two years, respectively, and missing out on the
 playoffs both times. Which is where the Celtics forward comes in.
 
 If it's just getting back to the playoffs we're talking about here --
 if it's not about winning titles -- then Walker would be a welcome
 addition in New York. Take it from someone who watches the Knicks on
 an almost nightly basis. They badly need an infusion in proven talent,
 albeit as flawed as Walker is.
 
 First off, Walker is still only 27. Next, he has more talent than any
 of the players the Knicks have discussed sending up to their Atlantic
 Division rivals. Before the draft, they offered Kurt Thomas, the
 rights to the No. 9 pick (which turned out to be Mike Sweetney)
 Charlie Ward and Frank Williams. Danny Ainge was probably smart for
 not biting on that.
 
 Sweetney, the Georgetown product, looks like an undersized "four" who
 plays beneath the rim. That's the last kind of player the Knicks need.
 Ward and Williams are back-ups. Thomas has developed nicely, but he's
 still not as skilled as Walker.
 
 Sure, Walker's shooting percentage has gone down in each of the last
 four seasons -- falling to an alarming career-low of 38.8 percent last
 season. And his free-throw attempts dropped to a career-low 286 for a
 full season -- a sure sign he's more comfortable on the perimeter than
 taking the ball inside.
 
 But the Knicks haven't had a frontcourt player over 6-foot-7 who can
 score 20 points a night since Ewing departed. At 6-9, Walker would
 make an immediate impact in that area, averaging at least 20 points a
 game in each of the last four seasons and almost 21 points a game for
 his seven-year NBA career.
 
 Now factor in the Antonio McDyess situation. Layden took on damage
 goods in McDyess in June 2002, and the ex-Nugget still hasn't played a
 regular-season game in New York. After another surgical procedure on
 his knee, he is not expected back until January, although there is the
 possibility he might miss the entire season. Right now, he's
 rehabilitating his knee at his offseason Houston home. Right now, you
 can't count on him for anything.
 
 So you tell me, the Knicks couldn't use Walker up front?
 
 But since the draft, the Celtics have added Marcus Banks at point
 guard, so the pre-draft offer involving the two Knicks backcourt
 players is clearly dead. Still, the Knicks should continue to pursue
 Walker. For where they are, he's an upgrade. Merely adding Sweetney
 isn't going to change the fact that they've become very stale. Walker
 would undoubtedly bring some juice back to the Garden.
 
 And just look at their point-guard situation. Even with his turnovers,
 Walker would be better running the offense as a point forward than
 Howard Eisley or Ward. That's a given.
 
 The good news is that the Celtics have made it clear that they want to
 part company before Walker turns free in a couple of seasons. So he
 remains on the trading block and Layden can keep making offers. He'll
 need to up his offer no doubt, which is always a problem when you're
 dealing with the Knicks' president. In trying to make deals for
 Stephon Marbury and Gary Payton in the past, he was accused of trying
 to steal those players by offering very little in return.
 
 But Layden should continue to have a willing partner in Ainge, because
 the last thing the Celtics want to do is to give Walker another
 mega-contract starting at around $14 million per season. So he is
 readily available, at the right price.
 
 I'd have reservations about giving up Latrell Sprewell because he
 still makes the Knicks competitive. As lousy as they were, the Knicks
 still were in the playoff hunt last season until the final week or so.
 That's the beauty of playing in the East. However, Sprewell continues
 to play out of position at small forward, making the Knicks way
 undersized up front.
 
 Again, Walker would help in that area. The fact that he's been
 outplayed badly in the playoffs against the Nets in each of the last
 two seasons? That doesn't bother me at all. Look at his competition.
 Kenyon Martin is a former No.1 overall pick and one of the best
 on-the-ball defenders in the entire league among forwards. Walker is
 just not as good as K-Mart. Case closed.
 
 Yes, Walker has been anything but clutch against Martin and the Nets
 in 2002 or 2003. But he gets more blame in Boston for the Celtics'
 playoff failures than Paul Pierce, who has yet to raise his level on a
 consistent basis against the Nets' Richard Jefferson. From this
 vantage point, the real crime has been Pierce's inability to dominate
 Jefferson, a lesser player, than Walker's failures against the
 superior Martin. Remember, Pierce is a third-team, All-NBA player. Not
 Walker, who probably would enjoy a chance to shed his scapegoat image
 with a change of address.
 
 Scapegoat or not, there's no denying that Walker has helped the
 Celtics get to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. These
 days, that's a place that Knick fans can only dream about.
 
 Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, is a
 regular contributor to ESPN.com. >>