http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/c-116079-25.html The C's no longer give up a 2nd round draft choice, or Marcus Banks. Jumaine Jones gets shipped out instead.
so the lakers now have: divac-mihm grant-medvedenko odom-george-walton-jones kobe-butler-rush atkins i expect one or two more trades from them.
Jones had a bad year due to injuries, and I'd love to see him turn in around in LA, but he isn't nearly the tradeable commodity that Banks is. Apparently, the Lakers made this revision to mollify the C's. Payton didn't show up to his physical and the trade could have been rescinded ny Boston without changes, which would have left the Lakers with a very, very pissed-off Payton. It's expected that Payton will be in training camp by October however. I don't think he'll fail to report, since he wouldn't get paid if he did.
Excerpt from LA Times Article by Mike Bresnahan The Lakers have seen it all this summer, including the exit of their coach followed by that of their seething center, and now an unexpected reconfiguration of last week's trade involving Gary Payton. Unhappy about being traded Aug. 6 to the Boston Celtics, Payton refused to report within a week for a physical with the Celtics, a move that forced the Lakers to sweeten the deal to keep it from being nullified. The Lakers returned guard Marcus Banks to the Celtics Friday in exchange for forward Jumaine Jones, who will add to an already crowded Laker frontcourt. The Lakers also returned the second-round pick they originally received from the Celtics. The Celtics agreed to waive the necessity of Payton's physical. In the end, the Lakers traded Payton, Rick Fox, a lottery-protected first-round pick in next year's draft and about $2 million to the Celtics for Chucky Atkins, Chris Mihm and Jones. Fox is expected to retire and is negotiating a buyout with the Celtics. It was one more snag in a summer of discord, and it occurred the day before General Manager Mitch Kupchak headed to Hawaii for a vacation. Banks, 22, was considered the wild card of the original deal, an erratic but intriguing point guard prospect who was prone to inspired play — and unnecessary errors. He would have been the Laker backup point guard, a duty that now could belong to Sasha Vujacic, a 20-year-old rookie from Slovenia. Jones, 25, has two years left on his contract at a total of about $3.6 million. He was a non-factor with the Celtics last season, playing in 42 games and averaging 2.2 points and 1.6 rebounds. He sustained a strained hamstring before the season and never found a consistent place in the rotation. In a five-year pro career that began with the Philadelphia 76ers, the 6-foot-8 Jones has averaged 6.3 points and four rebounds. He started 14 playoff games for the 76ers in 2001 when they reached the NBA Finals against the Lakers.
So, this deal which started as a total fleecing of the ain't got a clue Ainge turned into just a bad deal for C's. Banks, IMO, was #1 player in this deal with Atkins and Mihm both worthwhile for ... total crap.
How exactly do the Celtics get the shorter end of this deal? They dealt an overpaid Chucky Atkins, an over-the-hill Jumaine Jones and Mihm (who they wouldn't even have signed) for a first-round pick, an expiring contract (Fox) and Gary Payton. Even if Payton doesn't report, this is an absolute steal. My bet is that Payton is on his way out. I don't know how it'll work... Payton to the Rockets for Clarence Weatherspoon and a draft pick? And STOP BASHING AINGE! HE IS THE CELTICS' NEW JOSEPH SMITH! He's leading us to the promised land in glorious fashion... He turned: Walker, Delk, Williams, Battie, Brown, James, Mills, Atkins, Mihm, Jones. Into: LaFrentz, Welsch, West, Davis, Stewart, Allen, Payton, Fox, $2 million worth of cash and a future first round pick. Wich would you rather have?
I heard that Boston was telling everyone they'd match for Mihm, and that's why no one made him an offer. Was he restricted? The deal LA got him for is a steal. Seriously, when you look at what free agents are making this summer, it's pretty crazy. And that 1st-rounder is lottery-protected.
How does Ainge not have a clue? Compare what he's done so far to how the evil triumvirate of Pitino, Gaston (the owner) and Chris Wallace (GM) trashed the Celtics, and it's like night and day.
So inking a stiff that the Celtics don't even need would've been a good move, just because teams have made worse moves? Mihm isn't worth a first-rounder, conditional or not. And there was no room for him in the Celtics rotation, at least if the C's want high-schooler Al Jefferson to develop. Remember the time the C's forked over a lottery pick for Vitaly Potapenko, because he was supposedly a vast improvement over Andrew Declerq?
The Lakers got him for a steal in theory. But the Lakers got a stiff for a great deal, congratulations LA. Just because teams were throwing crazy money around for crap doesn't mean the Lakers crap is actually quality because they got him at a good deal. The Lakers are a disaster right now, with a stiff in Mihm, and two aging big men in Divac and B. Grant up front. And Odom at the point, at this point in his career, is a disaster waiting to happen. Odom is to big to run the point, but is to light to play PF.
