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Post by Motorcity on Aug 6, 2004 17:45:40 GMT -5
Payton Goes to Celtics As Lakers Rebuild
By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer
BOSTON - The Los Angeles Lakers (news) resumed their makeover on Friday by trading Gary Payton and Rick Fox to the Boston Celtics (news) for Chucky Atkins, Marcus Banks and Chris Mihm. The Celtics also received a conditional first-round draft pick and cash in the deal and sent a second-round pick to the Western Conference champions.
The teams were once among the NBA's fiercest rivals, but Boston has fallen on hard times since winning its 16th championship in 1986. Since then, the Lakers have won five titles and lost three times in the Finals, including this year's upset by the Detroit Pistons (news).
The Lakers then traded Shaquille O'Neal to Miami and replaced coach Phil Jackson with Rudy Tomjanovich. Derek Fisher left for Golden State and Vlade Divac, Los Angeles' center from the early '90s, was brought back for another stint.
Payton and Karl Malone took a large pay cut to join the Lakers as a free agent last summer as the two aging All-Stars signed in search of a championship.
Despite struggling through his first year with the team, the 36-year-old Payton exercised a $5.4 million option to come back for another season.
A nine-time All-Star who averaged 18.3 points per game over his first 13 seasons, Payton averaged 14.6 points — his lowest since the 1992-93 season — and a career-low 4.2 assists in the regular season last year. He averaged 7.8 points and 5.3 assists in the playoffs.
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