What the? Walker dealt for LaFrentz!

[sly fly]

Why couldn't Ainge get more for Walker?

Monday, October 20, 2003


Associated Press
The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics agreed on a five-player deal that sends All-Star forward Antoine Walker and Tony Delk to the Mavericks for three players, including Raef LaFrentz.

The deal also includes guard Tony Delk going to Dallas and Chris Mills and Jiri Welsch heading to the Celtics, who also will get Dallas' first-round draft pick in 2004

Raef LaFrentz signed a $69 million, five-year deal before last season. Welsch and Mills were acquired in an offseason trade with Golden State that also brought Antawn Jamison to Dallas.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban confirmed the deal to The Associated Press, saying it was pending league approval. The trade was first reported by the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on their Web sites Monday.

Walker, a three-time All-Star, has spent the first seven years of his career in Boston, where he has averaged 20.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He will split time at forward with All-Star Dirk Nowitzki and Jamison.

Delk, a reserve guard, will give the Mavericks more depth at point guard behind All-Star Steve Nash and Travis Best, another offseason acquisition. Delk has averaged 9.1 points and 2.0 assists per game over his seven-year career with five different franchises.

LaFrentz has averaged 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds a game in six seasons with the Denver Nuggets and Mavericks.

 

[elindholm]

Dang, you beat me to it! I just saw this.

Ainge couldn't get more for Walker because Walker sucks.

Does this mean that Nowitzki starts at center now for Dallas? Or is Jamison going to come off the bench?

Welsch might help the Celtics quite a bit.

 

[scotsman13]

i think you got this backwords. ainge did great on getting rid of walker. walker is a waste, think of walker as todays derrick coleman. the player that charles barkley said could be the best power forward ever but was dead above the shuddlers. walker doesnt like contact so he wont go inside. there isnt anyone on that team that even knows what defense is beside finley.

talk about smallball that is what the mavs are going to be in true. walker at center, dirk at power, and jamison at the small forward. the mavs only have 1 player on their team with any heart and that is finley. i almost feel sorry for him.

 

[sly fly]

You need to be a little faster next time, Eric.

Walker sucks? Wouldn't go that far. He can pretty much do a lot of things for being 6'9".

I'm quite puzzled by both GM's (Ainge/Cuban). Just doesn't seem to be a good fit both ways.

Dallas got weaker on D. (Which they didn't need.) They already have the O, so I'm not sure what they were looking at? Perhaps another trade is brewing.

Boston basically gets LaFrentz (and his monster contract), Jiri-I Like To Be Traded-Welsch, and next year's 1st rounder.

Paul Pierce will average 75 FG attemps per game.

 

[elindholm]

Walker shot an extremely low percentage last year, from everywhere. However, last year was the worst of his career, so he might bounce back.

I didn't realize how enormous LaFrentz's contract is. Through 2009! But I think he isn't as bad as a lot of people say, and he'll be a pretty good center in the East.

Here's a thought -- what if the Celtics think that Vin Baker is ready to return to his role as starting PF?

I also think it's funny how every team loves to acquire Tony Delk, and then they're sick of him within two years.

The Mavericks message board on ESPN is sure there's another trade in the works.

I wonder if this is good news for Danny Fortson's fantasy league owner...

 

[scotsman13]

ok that is a new one on me. double post 10 mins latter. sorry i dont know how i did it.

 

[Joe Mama]

I think some of you guys are crazy. Antoine Walker they shoot too many three-pointers. He may have shot the ball poorly last season. However he is twice the player Raef LaFrentz is, and his contract expires after next season. Raef LaFrentz is drastically overpaid, and he's even softer than Antoine Walker.

I guess Dallas is just going to try to outscore everyone. I assume their starting lineup will be Dirk Nowitzki at center, Antoine Walker and Antwawn Jamison and the forwards, Michael Finley at shooting guard, and Steve Nash at point guard. That's almost a $55 million starting lineup. Everyone of them can bury the three-point shot, and only Finley can defend his own shadow.

I'm glad I have Paul Pierce on one of my fantasy basketball teams. In fact I'm glad I have Steve Nash in the second league because assists are worth so much. I know the draft was slow, but this is one reason for waiting later to do it. Antoine Walker is now worth significantly last fantasy wise while Raef LaFrentz is probably worth quite a bit more. Sucks to be you Brian in Mesa.

I assume Raef LaFrentz's numbers will go up, but I don't think this makes the Boston Celtics better. It definitely doesn't help that salary cap unless they make some other moves.

Joe Mama

 

[Pimpin]

Man the Mavs offense is gonna be to hard to handle this season.

Makes no sense in even trying to defend them

You'll just have to pray to god their not hitting their shots.


This makes me even more happy that i got league pass though.

Their games should be very exciting(except when they play us )

I can already see a bunch of shootouts of 125-115 whenever they play.

 

[wierwolf]

Bring Finley Back to Phoenix!!!!!

 

[dyle_ph1]

AAAhhh!1 I was going for pierce too but I was too low in the draft to get him in the 2nd league.

Living in CT, I got to watch the boston preseason games this year. I don't know if it was just the preseason thing but I noticed that walker had no effort whatsoever during these games. peirce was working hard as well as the rest of the celtics. Heck, even baker is playing hard in the preseason but walker just kept on hoisting up three poinrters.

He is a very talented player though and can do a lot with the ball. he just basically ruined his reputation by taking a lot of ill advised shots.

 

[Phill11]

Wow, I can teven think of the Mavs lineup now.

Heres what I am kinda thinking of what they should do

PG-Nash
SG- Finley
SF- Walker
PF- Jaminson
C- Novitzki

I dunno but that looks good just Novitzki at center!???

 

[JCSunsfan]

There are not enough bballs for that Mavs line up.

I wonder if Cuban was more interested in Walker's retiring contract next year than his actual play. Most probably a combo of the two.

La Frentz will be a beast in the East as far as centers go. Not that its really saying much.

 

[Chaplin]

You guys are overrating Antoine Walker. He has played his entire career in the East--now he moves to the west to play against the likes of Amare, Chris Webber, Tim Duncan, etc... He's going to be eaten alive. It'll be only a matter of time before he starts complaining incessantly.

I do think the Mavs got a little better--but not much.

 

[SirStefan32]

Walker is overrated, there is no question about that. As Chap pointed out, east is different from the west. Walker will be demolished by Chris Webbers, Tim Duncans and Amare Stoudemires.

LaFrentz will help the C's. He is not a great Center, but he will be one of the best in the east. Good trade for both teams I guess. Walker fits in Dallas, and LaFrentz will fit well in Boston.
His contract is too long though.

 

[slinslin]

LOL

Danny Ainge should be fired already.

You might not like Walker and you might say he is overrated but he is still one of the very best all-around players in the world.

And the Celtics trade him for garbage...

 

[elindholm]

You might not like Walker and you might say he is overrated but he is still one of the very best all-around players in the world.

One of the "very best" how many? 200?

I'm sure I can think of at least 30 NBA players better than Walker. Probably 50. Half of the players in the league could score 20 points a game if they shot as much as he does. The best way to defend him is to let him bomb away and crash the boards.

 

[scotsman13]

slin do you understand that walker shot .388 from the field and only .323 from 3 point range. heck most coachs would tell him that he doesnt have the right to shoot any more 3 points with a shooting % like that. more then 1/3 of the shoots he took were 3's. his rebounding, shot blocking were very low for a power forward. also there was the issue of him coming to camp in shape.

walker isnt that good of a power forward. remember laster year the east made brad miller an all star in the east by averaging 13 points and under 8 boards a game. to me it sounds like lafrentz will run wild in the east.

 

[slinslin]

1. You didn't read right. I didn't say overall top player I said he is one of the best all around players.

2. He was an allstar multiple years and not because fans voted him in.

3. He is still averaging 21ppg 9rpg 4apg 1.5spg

 

[slinslin]

Originally posted by scotsman13
. also there was the issue of him coming to camp in shape.

He is in the shape of his life. That's all what has been said about him this offseason.

To quote Chad Ford in the chat right now "He's in the best shape of his career. "

Oh and here is Chad Ford's reply on my Joe Johnson question

JJ (Hawai]: Do you think Joe Johnson will finally put his skills together and breakout? Just based on his talent he could probably be right up there with say Paul Pierce.

Chad Ford: (1:30 PM ET ) He looks great in the pre-season. He's very versatile and smooth. His major problem has been consistency -- the Suns didn't get the same effort every night. He's getting better at that. I think he'll be the starter by mid season.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by slinslin
He is in the shape of his life. That's all what has been said about him this offseason.

To quote Chad Ford in the chat right now "He's in the best shape of his career. "

Oh and here is Chad Ford's reply on my Joe Johnson question

JJ (Hawai]: Do you think Joe Johnson will finally put his skills together and breakout? Just based on his talent he could probably be right up there with say Paul Pierce.

Chad Ford: (1:30 PM ET ) He looks great in the pre-season. He's very versatile and smooth. His major problem has been consistency -- the Suns didn't get the same effort every night. He's getting better at that. I think he'll be the starter by mid season.

I'm wondering how we are supposed to believe you. Do you always call yourself JJ from Hawaii, or are you just taking credit for someone else's question?

And, slin, maybe you haven't paid attention, but that stuff about Walker is said every year--just like the "Vin Baker is out to prove himself" stuff.

 

[slinslin]

Walker lost lots of fat. You can see that.

I just didn't use my real name and made up some fantasy stuff. So I came up with JJ because I was asking about JJ and Hawai because Hawai is nice.
Why would I want to take someone else's credit?

 

[hcsilla]

I agree with slinslin and Joe Mama.

Walker is a very good player.He is maybe the fastest bigman of NBA with the ball in his hands, has excellent post-up moves, fantastic ball-handler, good shooting touch.

That was a typical rebuilding move from BOS which suprised me.
They got a less talented player (with longer contract), an expiring contract, a young prospect and a pick.

 

[elindholm]

So I came up with JJ because I was asking about JJ and Hawai because Hawai is nice.

Of course, someone actually from Hawaii would probably know how to spell it. Then again, they might not...

 

[scotsman13]

slin, over on the espn boston board one fan that had been to a bunch of preseason games said that to him it looked like the same old walker out there. he didnt look in better shape then he did in last years preseason. and his game hadnt change in the less. he is still coming down the court and shoot the 3 right off the bat.

 

[Chaz]

I am not sure what Dallas is doing with this trade other than like someone said Walker's contract is up in a year or two. It seems like they are just playing fantasy BB by signing all the names they can get. I think Walker's play will fit with Nelson coaching very well because of his versatility.

As for the Celtics.
I think Ainge figured they weren't going to sign a big extension with Walker that he has already requested. By trading him now they avoid any lockeroom problems with a player that has not received his extension payday.

I remember Ainge really liked Welsh in the draft before last, He got some size (for the East) at center in LaFrenz, and a lot of money to be unlocked in Chris mills contract should he just retire due to injury.
He also gets another 1st next year.

I don't think it is a bad move for Boston. They weren't going any further in the playoffs with the team they had. They needed to make some changes.