C's Cut Jackson to Make Room for Ainge

1981-82 Boston Celtics

Red finally found a nice home for his pup.

"That's all there was to it, really," confirmed Red Auerbach as he announced late yesterday afternoon that rookie guard Tracy Jackson had been sold to the Chicago Bulls to make room on the 12-man Celtics ' roster for Danny Ainge. "I didn't want to put him on waivers, because then you don't know where he might wind up," Auerbach said. "So we made a deal, primarily to help the kid."

Added Bill Fitch, "Tracy is going to a good club, one that appreciates him." Indeed, the Bulls were chagrined back on June 9 when the Celtics chose the Notre Dame grad at the 25th spot in the college draft, for they had every intention of making him their second-round selection. Chicago's interest in the 6-foot-5 guard has never wavered.

Both Fitch and Auerbach heaped praise on Jackson, who impressed all observers with his personal class. "It was a pleasure to have him here as long as we had him," declared Fitch. "We even tried to make a deal in which we could get him back," confided Auerbach, "but they wouldn't go for it."

Ainge, meanwhile, was activated after participating in five workouts with the team, only two of which included full-court basketball for him. There is no way to predict how long it will take for him to work himself into the Celtics' guard rotation, but Fitch did explain the role he has in mind for the ex-Brigham Young star, who now begins a second professional sports career after his celebrated trial as a major league baseball player.

"He'll be like Henderson," Fitch explained. "When Gerry comes to the ballpark, he doesn't know whether he'll be a point guard or an off guard, and neither will Danny. He'd better bring more than one glove to the field."

The workouts have certainly whetted the coach's appetite for his new acquisition. "If someone were to see him in two or three years and compare it to what we might see tonight," Fitch said, "and wanted to call the future look a 10, than I'd say Danny is about a 2 right now. But he's right there with Bird and McHale, in that it no more comes off my tongue than he knows what I'm talking about. I don't have to repeat things. Kevin and Larry have always known what I wanted, and Danny does, too."

There still remains the matter of M.L. Carr, and the final roster deletion. "M.L. is making strides in running," said Fitch, "and he's not far away in his general basketball skills. Right now his biggest problem area is jumping, and he's going back up with the big boys now (i.e., Carr will once again be a forward, primarily), so jumping will be important." Fitch set no time for Carr's return, so the other shoe remains to be dropped.