Baker trade should cook Wallace

By Justine Termine Sports Central Columnist

Chris Wallace, now entering his seventh year as the man making the decisions for the Celtics, has been involved in a bag full of atrocious moves made or not made by the team.

Since 1997, when Wallace came aboard with Rick Pitino, he has sat by and watched the team pass up on talents such as Ben Wallace, let go integral pieces of past teams in David Wesley and Rick Fox, trade for and overpay underachievers Travis Knight and Vitaly Potapenko, and draft the useless Ron Mercer, Chauncey Billups, Jerome Moiso, Joe Johnson, and Joe Forte, amongst others.

As all, or most of these moves were made, Wallace received a free pass because the media and in turn the fans were placing the blame on Rick Pitino. But it has been two and half years since Pitino has left town, and while the team on the floor has improved, the one putting it together has not.

Yes, under their first full Pitino-free campaign last year, the C's finished third in the Eastern Conference and were able to make it all the way to the conference finals. And yes, that success was due in large part to the acquisitions of Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers by Wallace.

But Rogers is gone now, and so are many other members of last year's memorable Celtics run. That is in large part due to the money hungry, and recently unseated owner of the Celtics, Paul Gaston. But it is also the fault of Wallace.

Wallace cannot be criticized for the departure of Rodney Rodgers. There was no way that Paul Gaston was going to spend the money to keep Rodgers around. The same can be said for Erick Strickland. And we will give Wallace a break on all the moves made pre-Jim O'Brien; meaning the Rick Pitino era. But even still, Wallace has managed to do his best to destroy a franchise with two young cornerstones in Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker for years to come.

How does a starting line-up of Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Nene Hilario (or Amare Stoudemire or the second overall pick in the 2003 draft), Theo Ratliff, and Tony Parker or Jamaal Tinsley sound with a bench of Tony Battie, Richard Jefferson, and Eric Williams? This rotation appears to be one that could compete for an NBA title. It also appears to be one that could have come to fruition with a little bit of patience and intelligence from Chris Wallace.

Leave the addition of Theo Ratliff out of the equation for now. We will start with the 2001 NBA draft where the Celtics very likely could have ended up with Richard Jefferson and Tony Parker. The team then could have held out a year or two in order to receive Denver's first-round pick last year (fifth overall) or it's first-round pick this year if it wasn't number one overall (on pace to be the second overall pick).

Instead, the C's selected three players who play the same position and have the combined passion of, well, Vin Baker, in the form of Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown, and Joe Forte. Two of whom have already been shipped out of town, and the other who gets as mush playing time as a broken record.

If the C's could have handled that draft correctly, they would have selected Richard Jefferson with their 10th overall pick. He ended up going to New Jersey with the 13th pick and becoming a cornerstone to their title run in only his rookie campaign. The C's then could have passed up their temptation to use the 11th pick, owed to them by Denver, and used it in the 2002 draft on Amare Stoudemire, the most talented player available, or Nene Hilario, the player the Nuggets eventually ended up getting.

The final move they could have made in this draft would to have been to secure a true point guard. Wallace had always spoken of finding a true point man to take over for Kenny Anderson when his time in green had come to an end. With the 21st pick in the draft, Wallace decided to pass up on Jamaal Tinsley and French wonder-kid turned-premier point guard Tony Parker. Instead, Wallace drafted two-guard Joe Forte out of North Carolina and pledged to mold him into Anderson's heir-apparent. That obviously did not happen as Forte is somewhere in the Northwest still wearing street clothes.

But hence, Chris Wallace has no patience, and that leads to the next topic. The Vin Baker trade. If everything had gone as planned, even in the eyes of Chris Wallace, the Celtics would have never needed to make this trade because they would still have Rodney Rogers. But with the combination of former owner Paul Gaston's frugality and Wallace's inability to sit still, Wallace decided he had to fill the void by adding Baker.

To the dismay of head coach Jim O'Brien, Celtic players, and Celtic's nation, Wallace tore apart the chemistry of last year's team and shipped team leader Kenny Anderson along with Vitaly Potapenko and Joe Forte to Seattle for former All-Star Vin Baker and benchwarmer Shammond Williams.

It really is not necessary to explain how this trade has turned out. Baker has been an utter disappointment, averaging 5 points and 4 rebounds a game in 18 minutes per contest while continuing to be plagued by the depression he suffered from in Seattle. Just this past week, Baker came down with a mystery ailment. It just so happened that it arrived at the same time Baker's former team did in Boston. Baker, not surprisingly, did not play. However, this time, unlike earlier in this season when he did not play, Baker did not break down in tears.

Baker has turned out to be an overpaid lug that has destroyed team chemistry and the salary cap until at least 2006 when he comes off the books. His little tag-along from the West Coast, Shammond Williams, started off hot, but is now nothing more than the third point guard off the bench behind J.R. Bremer and Tony Delk.

This trade is a disaster and has ruined the Celtics not only for this year, but also for years to come. And it just so happens it comes in what should be the prime of two of the brightest stars in the league.

A future that didn't have to be so bleak. Already having added Tony Parker, Richard Jefferson, and perhaps Amare Stoudemire, the Celtics could have then set their sites on Theo Ratliff. Instead of having a stiff at the center position, Walker and Pierce could have had a more than serviceable big man.

Here's how it could have happened. It is well documented that Atlanta is in the middle of executing a fire sale. And what in the NBA is more attractive than a player in the last year of his contract? Absolutely nothing. And that is what Kenny Anderson was. If Wallace could have waited three months, he could have shipped Anderson and change out for an upper-echelon center instead of one with no game and mental problems.

Pitino is gone. But his disciples appear to be doing a tremendous job in continuing his philosophy. If Chris Wallace could have show a little bit of patience, the Celtics could be looking at Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Nene Hilario (or Amare Stoudemire or the second overall pick in the 2003 draft), Theo Ratliff, Tony Parker or Jamaal Tinsley, Richard Jefferson, Tony Battie, and Eric Williams. Instead, they are stuck with J.R. Bremer, Kedrick Brown, Tony Delk, Shammond Williams, and Bruno Sundov to go along with Pierce, Walker, Battie, and Eric Williams.

Instead of a team headed for the NBA finals, Wallace has put together a team headed nowhere. That, in turn, should be enough for the new owners of the Celtics to send Wallace packing.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.