Walker Trade

Danny Ainge and the Celtics finally pulled off the long awaited Antoine Walker sign-and-trade deal to the Miami Heat. In the biggest trade in NBA history -- five teams and thirteen players -- Walker was shipped to South Beach to play with Shaq and Dwayne Wade while the Green got Curtis Borchardt from Utah, Qyntel Woods and the draft rights to Spanish center Albert Miralles from Miami as well as two second-round picks and a $5.4-million trade exemption from the Heat. In terms of talent, the Celts look to have gotten swindled. Walker may not be the player he thinks he is (ask Shaq how it feels to have his power forward tossing more 3's than Michael Jackson in 6-months) but he must certainly be worth more than Woods, Borchardt and Miralles. Then after taking a second look, the deal doesn't look so bad. Both Woods and Borchardt are in the last year of their contracts which will give Boston more financial flexibility for next summer and Miralles is expected to remain in Spain. And while the picks in the second-round don't seem to be worth that much, remember that Ainge has plucked Brandon Hunter (now with the Magic), Justn Reed, Ryan Gomes and Orien Greene in Round Two. None are considered All-Stars but Hunter and Reed have shown they can compete in the NBA and Gomes and Greene are being counted on to play for Boston in the '05-'06 season. (The point is that Ainge finds value after the first-round.) Finally, the trade exemption of $5.4-million, coupled with a $1.2-million exemption from the Walter McCarty-to-Phoenix trade gives Ainge the ability to trade for a player who makes up to $6.8-million more than the players he is being traded for -- maybe this is where the Celtics will find their veteran point guard for the '05-'06 season. Whatever Ainge does for the rest of the summer -- if he keeps tweaking the roster or if he is done -- the Celtics are in better position today than they were yesterday. They have eliminated salary and in the process have much more flexibility to improve the roster.