| | Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Glen Rice is gone, and Horace Grant is coming
to town.
|  | | Glen Rice, now with New York, won't be shooting over Seattle's Gary Payton quite so often next season. |
Finally completing a sign-and-trade deal for Rice, the defending
NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers acquired Grant and three others
from Seattle in a four-team, 12-player deal Wednesday.
After watching several deals unravel, Lakers general manager
Mitch Kupchak was pleased to finally close one.
"A lot of things happened this summer you can't explain -- deals
falling apart, players we thought we had commitments from. This
deal made sense. I really felt if it didn't happen, it would be a
shame," Kupchak said.
"It's no secret that the Glen Rice question has loomed over our
heads now since the season ended and even prior to that, an issue
we hoped would been a lot smoother. I'm relieved. I know our
coaching staff is relieved as well."
Rice, a free agent who got a multiyear contract from the Lakers
just before being dealt to New York, turned down an offer from
Chicago earlier this week.
The Lakers also sent Travis Knight to the Knicks in the deal,
which revolved around New York's trading Patrick Ewing to Seattle.
In addition to the 35-year-old Grant, a 6-foot-10 power forward
who will be reunited with coach Phil Jackson, Los Angeles acquired
journeymen Greg Foster, Chuck Person and Emanual Davis from
Seattle.
"It's apparent we needed help in the front court and I don't
think there's a better player out there to help us than Horace
Grant," Kupchak said during a conference call. "He's a true power
forward, is experienced, is experienced with Phil, he knows how to
win and he's won.
"If there's a true power forward in the league, it's Horace
Grant."
The Lakers released forward A.C. Green shortly after the season
ended. Their only other significant offseason move before the big
trade was to sign free-agent Isaiah Rider.
Kupchak said Grant will be a welcome addition to the Lakers.
"I bumped into Shaquille (O'Neal) a little while back and he
was so quick to say, 'Go get him,' I was surprised," the Lakers'
GM said. "Phil and I had talked about it for five weeks, so he's
very comfortable.
"When the deal was about to happen, I called him away from
someone he was talking to and said, 'Phil, do you really want this
guy.' He said, 'Yeah, I really do."'
Grant, a 13-year pro, won three NBA championship rings with
Jackson in Chicago in the early 1990s. He played his first seven
seasons with the Bulls, then was with Orlando in 1994-99.
Last season, his first with Seattle, Grant led the SuperSonics
in rebounding with an average of 7.8, and averaged 8.1 points.
He has averaged 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in his career.
Kupchak said Grant could not be expected to play many years with
the Lakers, but "If we could get two or three good years out of
him, he would be happy and so would we."
Foster is a 6-11 center-forward who has played 10 NBA seasons,
averaging 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds. Davis, a 6-5 guard who has
played three seasons, has averaged 4.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4
assists. Person, a 6-8 forward, is a 14-year pro who has averaged
5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
In the deal, the Knicks also got Luc Longley from Phoenix and
Lazaro Borrell, Vladimir Stepania and Vernon Maxwell from Seattle.
Phoenix received Chris Dudley from New York.
New York also got lottery-protected first-round choices in the
next NBA draft from Los Angeles and Seattle, as well as two
second-round choices from Seattle. Phoenix received a first-round,
lottery-protected choice from New York, and an undisclosed amount of
cash.
| |
ALSO SEE
Knicks trade Ewing to Sonics in four-team deal
Aldridge: Sadly, Ewing divorce is official
Bulls lost Rice because of mega-deal
Suns get Dudley from Knicks
AUDIO/VIDEO
 ESPN's David Aldridge breaks down the four-team deal that sends Patrick Ewing to Seattle.
RealVideo: 28.8
|
