Zach Rocha Loves Danny Ainge

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http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/10-03/10-21-03/c01sp381.htm

Walker move was overdue 
By ZACH ROCHA, Standard-Times correspondent

Tommy Heinsohn may love Walter McCarty, but let it be known, I LOVE Danny Ainge. 
After what he did yesterday, I would do anything for the Celtics' new president of basketball operations. 
Step in front of a speeding bullet? You got it. Push him out of the way of a speeding car and take the hit? I'm there. 
After last week's heart-wrenching loss by the Red Sox, the Boston sports world was in need of a lift, and they got it when the Celtics dealt Antoine Walker and Tony Delk to the Dallas Mavericks for Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mills, and a first-round draft pick in 2004. 
Personally, I would've been happy if the Celtics traded Antoine for a bag of peanuts. 
To quote Dan Aykroyd's character in the movie Celtic Pride, "The virus has been destroyed." 
This deal works in Boston's favor on so many levels. 
First, Antoine's gone. 
Second, Antoine's gone. 
Third ... 
No, seriously, this is the second major move by Ainge since being hired in June and it's another good one. 
After picking up a true point guard (Marcus Banks) and a center for the future (Kendrick Perkins) on Draft Day, Ainge has now -- when broken down -- acquired three first-round draft picks for one. 
Walker was the No. 6 pick in 1996 out of Kentucky. 
LaFrentz, the headliner from the Mavericks' side, was the No. 3 selection in 1998. 
But in addition, the Celts picked up a first-round pick in next year's draft, in addition to Welsch, a 23-year-old 6-7 swingman from the Czech Republic, who was the No. 16 pick in 2002. 
Mills was also a first-round choice (No. 22 in 1993), but he's absolutely useless, so let's never speak of him again. 
"Dallas likes to take chances and make things happen. They're on the cusp of winning a championship right now," Ainge said. "I can't sit here and tell you that we're an NBA championship team right now. I just don't see that. But I'm not satisfied winning 44 games." 
And with Walker wearing green-and-white that's as good as the C's will ever be. This doesn't instantaneously make the Green a championship contender, but it does set them closer in that direction. 
Don't believe that? 
Simply take a look at Walker's statistics last year. His 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game were again down from the year before -- Walker's been on a steady decline in those departments every year since 1999-2000. 
His field goal percentage of .388 was the worst of his career, while his .323 three-point percentage and .615 free-throw percentage were also some of the worst marks he's ever had. 
But those are just numbers, which only tell half the story. The other half is the way he went about playing the game -- horrible to watch, but also detrimental to the team. 
With Walker on the roster, the Celts weren't going to get any better. 
"Antoine's been a leader in the locker room and an all-star the last two years ... but we feel that we needed to go in a different direction with this team," Ainge said. 
The Mavs are ecstatic about having Walker and they should be. 
In Dallas, he'll be playing the role that he's more suited to: being the No. 4 or 5 option. 
I don't enjoy his style or his cry-baby attitude (employee No. 8 led the league in technicals last year and I can't remember one of those being for rough play), but he's not the worst player in the league. 
He's just not a team leader. He brought back the term, "point forward" because he didn't understand how to play his actual position, power forward. 
On the block, Walker at 6-8, 245 pounds is one of the best down-low scorers in the NBA, but he didn't seem to like that role. 
In 2000-2001, he hit 36.7 percent of his 603 threes -- a big jump from his 285 threes and 25.6 percent success rate the year before. 
Once he got a taste of success from outside, he couldn't let it go. Walker is still taking plenty of threes, but hitting less (34.4 percent, 2002) and less (32.3, 2003) of them. 
Antoine, at 27 years old, is supposed to be entering his prime, not leaving it. 
If he was a secondary player, I still wouldn't mind having Walker in Boston. But his ego is too big for that -- he has to leave Beantown in order for him to accept a lesser role. 
That's why this trade works for both teams. 
Even though LaFrentz is the second most recognizable name in the deal, don't view this is as a straight-up deal with some extras thrown in. 
Don't put too much stock into LaFrentz's 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game averages. Those came in only 23.3 minutes per contest for one of the deepest and best teams in the league. 
At 6-11, 245 pounds, the soft-shooting lefty is a bigger presence on the post and will most likely stay there more often if C's coach Jim O'Brien tells him to -- unlike Walker. 
And while Paul Pierce is bound to miss his old partner, he does have history with LaFrentz -- they were college teammates at Kansas before entering the NBA. 
Besides the $7 million cap space Boston also freed up with this trade for the coming off-season, European Welsch may be the steal of the deal. 
The athletic swingman already started to emerge this preseason, posting over 11 points and four rebounds per game. 
He could make an impact, although later rather than sooner. 
Remember, Ainge hasn't been brought in to make sure the Celts continue to qualify for the playoffs every year. 
He's here to build a champion, and with this deal, he's continued to put that process in motion. 
I know that Cedric Maxwell's jersey No. 31 is going to be raised to the FleetCenter rafters this year. 
Is it too late to send Ainge's No. 44 up there, too? 

Zach Rocha writes about basketball for The Standard-Times. E-mail him at beyondthearczachrocha@xxxxxxxxx 

This story appeared on Page C1 of The Standard-Times on October 21, 2003.