Celtics Greats Talk About Toine

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 MetroWest Daily News Tribune	
	
Talk about 'Toine 

By Scott Souza / Daily News Tribune 
Tuesday, October 21, 2003

WALTHAM -- It was intended to be a night when the new Boston Celtics ownership celebrated what it plans to do off the court this season. Yet because of the timing of the team's charitable foundation re-launch dinner, the talk of the evening was all about the impact that the big move the team made yesterday will have on the court. 
The trade of three-time All-Star forward Antoine Walker was almost all that anyone was talking about at last night's Tip-Off Celebration at the Sports Authority Center in Waltham, with many of the franchise's legends more than willing to share their thoughts. 
"I listened to them when they told me about it," said team president Red Auerbach of the five-player deal announced yesterday that sent Walker and guard Tony Delk to the Dallas Mavericks for center Raef LaFrentz, guard Jiri Welsch, injured forward Chris Mills and a first-round draft pick. "I listened because I hadn't seen the other kid (Welsch) play and I didn't see LaFrentz all that much. I listened to the way they explained it all, and I agree with them. If I didn't agree with them, I would say so." 
Most of those on hand last night, several of whom still work for the organization in some capacity, were supportive of Executive Director of Player Personnel Danny Ainge for taking such a big chance on the deal. As for the package the Celtics brought in for their co-captain and second-leading scorer, there was more uncertainty. 
"I see it as a question mark," said Cedric Maxwell, the team's radio analyst who will have his No.31 retired this season. "Until I actually see these players play, and how they are able to bring things to the table, I don't know. But my hunch would be that they will be a lot more athletic. Defensively, they will be a lot better because Raef LaFrentz is a shot blocker and a rebounder." 
"Raef LaFrentz brings to Boston tremendous potential," said Bill Walton, a member of the 1986 championship team and now a national television analyst, "but this is also a guy who realistically has not lived up to that potential in a number of good opportunities. If he doesn't deliver right away then we'll have another assessment, but this is golden opportunity for Raef LaFrentz. Now it's time for him to come in here and get things done." 
As for Walker, the opinions from the Celtic legends as he lives Boston are as varied as the ones that many Celtic fans have had about him throughout seven-year career in the city. While the team went from a 15-win joke to the Eastern Conference finals with him as one of the focal points of the franchise, Walker was often criticized for poor shot selection and what some considered irritating antics on the court. 
"Antoine Walker has a lot of talent," said Auerbach, who said he was consulted about the deal before it was made. "He really does have a lot of talent. But it's a strange thing. Will all of his talent, very few teams were interested in him because there are other things other than your native talent that wins ballgames and wins championships. 
"I think it's something you've got to do because Antoine is a funny-type kid," he continued. "You don't know from one day to the other whether he's going to be mad, whether he is going to get fat, whether he is going to be out of shape, or what he is going to be doing. Basically, like I said, he is a very talented player, but you really don't know what you've got." 
With LaFrentz, the Celtics have a player signed to a longterm contract, which would not have been the case with Walker since the Celtics had apparently decided not to extend his deal at a maximum salary. 
"A lot of it has to do with financial aspects of basketball and whether you can resign Antoine at the end of the season or not," said Tom Heinsohn, the team's television analyst. "Now they have a center who has a contract at a set price, for five years, at a number they think they can live with, and who plays the up-tempo style of basketball they want to play. They made the move. They gave up one of the foundation players of the new Celtic ballclub, who was adapting to the new style of play, I thought. But you've got to give something to get something." 
Exactly how much they've given up, it was widely agreed, will likely not be known until there is some separation between Walker and his often-tumultuous Celtic career. 
"Antoine is like a prickly coat, or an old pair of shoes," Maxwell said. "Antoine has been very prickly toward fans every place he's gone. He's been a lightning rod for things he's done, or the way he talks, or the way the officials have gotten on his case. There's a lot of things about Antoine Walker that are contrasting. From that point, the Celtics might not know what they had, and the fans might not know what they had, until he has actually gone away."