DEAL? 'IT'S DEAD' FOUR-TEAM TRADE FALLS BY WAYSIDE.Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a retired American professional basketball player. He played most of his career with the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic. nearly became a Seattle SuperSonic, the Lakers almost landed a desperately needed power forward and disgruntled dis·grun·tle tr.v. dis·grun·tled, dis·grun·tling, dis·grun·tles To make discontented. [dis- + gruntle, to grumble (from Middle English gruntelen; see Glen Rice Glen Anthony Rice (born May 28 1967, in Flint where he played for Flint Northwestern High School, Michigan) is a retired American NBA basketball player. Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star small forward well known for his pinpoint shooting accuracy, ranking 4th in NBA history with came within a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of minute of becoming a Knick on Monday. But it all crashed with a thud when a complex four-team megadeal unraveled late in the day. ``It's dead,'' an NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= source familiar with the discussions told the Daily News on Monday evening. The proposed blockbuster - which revolved around Knicks legend Ewing, Sonics disappointment Vin Baker Vincent (Vin) Lamont Baker (born November 23, 1971, in Lake Wales, Florida) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA, currently a free agent. He appeared in four consecutive All-Star Games before his career was troubled by alcoholism. and Lakers free agent Rice - would have involved more than a dozen players, many of them unsigned free agents, plus draft picks. But the fragile deal collapsed when the Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are a team in the National Basketball Association based in the Detroit metropolitan area. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. Franchise history From Fort Wayne to Detroit - who would have sent Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (born August 17, 1969 in Angola, New York) is an American entrepreneur and former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the NBA on six different teams. He started for the 1991 and 1992 NCAA champion Duke University Blue Devils. to the Lakers - pulled out, sources said. Detroit, having already lost star Grant Hill, would have acquired a mish-mash of role players with short contracts in an effort to get under the salary cap next summer. But the deal proved unpalatable to the Pistons, who would have given up Laettner while acquiring the likes of Tyronn Lue Tyronn Jamar Lue (born on May 3, 1977 in Mexico, Missouri) is an American professional basketball player who last played with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA in the 2006-07 season. He is currently an unrestricted free agent. and John Celestand John Celestand (born March 6, 1977 in Houston, Texas) is an American former professional basketball player. Celestand was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 30 overall pick of the 1999 NBA Draft, as a 6'4" shooting guard out of Villanova University. from the Lakers and Vladimir Stepania Vladimir Stepania (born May 8 1976 in Georgian SSR, Soviet Union (present-day Georgia)) is a Georgian professional basketball player. He is 7 feet tall and weighs around 244 pounds. He was the first NBA player from the Republic of Georgia. , Lazaro Borrell Lazaro Manuel Borrell Hernandez, referred to as Lazaro Borrell (born September 20 1972 in Cuba), is a Cuban professional basketball player. He has played in such countries as United States (with the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics during 1999-2000, and the CBA's La Crosse and Vernon Maxwell, among others, from Seattle. With the Pistons out, the entire deal fizzled. The Knicks and Sonics still might try swapping Ewing and Baker, however. So the Lakers' search for a starting power forward, and a home for Rice, continues. They have been after Laettner, who has one year left on his contract, for much of the summer. The Lakers could have earlier acquired Laettner in a one-for-one deal, but sources said Rice - a free agent who must first sign a contract with L.A. - did not want to play for Detroit and nixed the deal. Laettner would have stepped immediately into the Lakers' starting lineup, filling their greatest need. Had the four-team deal been consummated, the Lakers also would have acquired Knicks center Chris Dudley and New York rookie Lavor Postell. In exchange, the Lakers would have signed Rice to a contract starting at about $9 million, then traded him to New York, along with Travis Knight. They also would have re-signed Celestand, then dealt him and Lue, along with a first-round draft pick, to Detroit. In addition to acquiring two big men, the Lakers would have unloaded the last four years and $15 million of Knight's deal and the last year of Lue's contract. Neither player fits into coach Phil Jackson's plans. But this deal was not a perfect one for the Lakers, either. Laettner's contract has a clause that would have bumped his salary by $1.5 million - to more than $8 million total - if his team wins a championship. He also would be a free agent next summer, leaving the Lakers with a vacancy at power forward once more. Dudley has two seasons at $7 million annually left on his bloated contract, although the Lakers could have bought out the second year for $2 million. Thus, they would have paid $9 million for a 35-year-old backup center with scant skills and a free-throw percentage that makes Shaquille O'Neal look proficient by comparison. Officials from all four teams declined comment Monday. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak did not return phone calls seeking comment. The Lakers have not made a significant addition to the roster since winning the championship in June. Their first priority remains dealing Rice and obtaining players of value in return. They also have salary-cap exceptions for $2.25 million and $1.2 million to spend on free agents. WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN If Monday's trade had happened, these players would have moved to new teams: --To the Lakers: Christian Laettner, Chris Dudley --To the Sonics: Patrick Ewing --To the Knicks: Glen Rice, Vin Baker --To the Pistons: David Wingate (from Knicks), Vernon Maxwell, Vladimir Stepania, Lazaro Borrell, Greg Foster (from Sonics), Tyronn Lue, John Celestand (from Lakers), draft picks, cash PATRICK EWING (to Seattle) Year Min. Pts. Reb. FG Pct. '99-'00 32.8 15.0 9.7 46.6 Career 36.2 22.8 10.450.8 VIN BAKER (to New York) Year Min. Pts. Reb. FG Pct. '99-'00 36.1 16.6 7.7 45.5 Career 37.3 17.9 8.8 49.3 GLEN RICE (to New York) Year Min. Pts. Reb. FG Pct. '99-'00 31.6 15.9 4.1 43.0 Career 36.8 20.2 4.7 45.0 CHRISTIAN LAETNER (to Lakers) Year Min. Pts. Reb. FG Pct. '99-'00 29.8 12.2 6.7 47.3 Career 33.4 15.7 7.6 47.6 CAPTION(S): 5 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Detroit's Christian Laettner was almost a Laker, but he remains a Piston. Jamie-Andrea Yanak/Associated Press (2 -- color) CHRISTIAN LAETTNER (3 -- color) GLEN RICE (4 -- color) PATRICK EWING (5 -- color) VIN BAKER Box: What could have been (see text) |
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