Return of Kenny?

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

C's may make a point: Keep eyes on Anderson

by Steve Bulpett
Saturday, July 19, 2003







The Celtics are prepared to make some moves in the frontcourt if Walter
McCarty doesn't accept their offer, but the team also appears to be looking
for a point guard - perhaps one who is familiar to Boston fans.




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Kenny Anderson is among the players Danny Ainge has spoken to in an attempt to
beef up his backcourt. Springfield native Travis Best, a target last summer,
also is in the mix while talks with Antonio Daniels ultimately failed (he's
headed for Seattle).

The point would seem crowded, but Ainge explained his reasons yesterday.

``I don't look at Tony (Delk) as a point guard. I look at Tony as a two-guard.
I look at JR (Bremer) and Marcus (Banks) as my only point guards right now
even though Tony can play there some.''

Mike Batiste and John Wallace are hoping to get on board with the Celts if
McCarty decides to go elsewhere. Wallace is a free agent, and the C's would
need to send a bit more than $700,000 of their $2 million trade assignment to
Memphis to get Batiste.

McCarty's chances of getting a good deal from Orlando were hurt with reports
Tyronn Lue will accept the Magic's $1.5 million exception. The Magic could
then give out just the veteran minimum, but McCarty hasn't been offered much
more by the Celts.

It was learned yesterday the Celtics' bid is even less than first thought.
It's actually a three-year deal (final year at the player's option) for a
total of some $3.2 million. That figure includes three yearly bonuses of
$100,000 if the Celtics make the playoffs.

Reached last night, McCarty said, ``This still has a long way to go. They're
making an effort and I'm making an effort, but I'm not comfortable with it
yet.''

Said Ainge: ``We're very hopeful that Walter wants to come back to us. The
bottom line is how much can I go to get Walter. We've made an offer and he's
either going to accept or reject it.''

With the Celts looking into adding to their roster, it's clear some
subtraction would be nice for the financial people. To that end, the club has
given the agent for Bruno Sundov permission to facilitate a trade.

The 7-foot-2 Croatian played just 138 minutes in 26 games last season and
seems an ill fit for the club now after exercising his $751,179 option for the
2003-04 season.

``I believe that Bruno has a good career ahead of him, and I feel bad that he
hasn't had a chance to play in our system yet,'' Ainge said. ``And we haven't
figured out how to best utilize him. I just think he needs a new life. We're
trying to get something done.

``The drafting of (Kendrick) Perkins, Vin Baker's situation, Mark Blount
signing and Tony Battie coming back . . . you know, Bruno's been redshirting
for five years. He needs to play. He needs to find an environment to play, so
we would try to help Bruno find a situation where he can develop better than
he could here.''

Sundov's representative, Frank Catapano, had no comment on a deal last night
but said this week he would try to find a deal to satisfy both sides if he
were asked.

``Bruno just needs to play,'' Catapano said.

The 23-year-old left the Celtics' summer league team Thursday to meet up with
the Croatian national team.

``He's starting for them, and obviously that's good,'' Catapano said. ``He
played for the same coach in the 21-and-under Worlds and the guy started him
and he played very well. So minutes are important and it's been hard to get
minutes. Whether he earned them or not, that's not really for me to say. I
don't think that he was playing really good this year in the chances he got,
but he didn't get a lot of chances.''

Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx

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