Celtics Acquire Sichting

October 3, 1985
Section: SPORTS
SICHTING A CELTIC INDIANA GETS TWO 2D-ROUND PICKS


The Celtics yesterday put the finishing touch on their off-season reconstruction job, acquiring guard Jerry Sichting from the Indiana Pacers for two second-round draft picks.

The Celtics' house is in order. Three and a half months after losing the championship series to the Lakers, Boston has re-signed free agent Dennis Johnson and added Bill Walton, Sly Williams, Sam Vincent and Sichting in place of Cedric Maxwell, M.L. Carr, Quinn Buckner and Ray Williams.

Sichting was the final piece. DJ and Danny Ainge are Boston's starting guards, but the Celts wanted a veteran third guard to take some of the heat off rookie Vincent.

"Hopefully I can provide some leadership on the floor," Sichting said before flying to Boston last night. "My strengths are my outside shooting and my ball handling."

Indiana's 6-foot-1-inch, five-year veteran fills Boston's need for an experienced shooting guard. A lifetime 50 percent pro shooter, he rarely turns the ball over and averaged almost six assists per game in 1983-84. Last year the Pacer captain shot 52 percent and averaged 11 points. His lifetime free throw percentage is a scintillating .852.

"I feel about four or five years younger," Sichting said after the trade was announced. "It's finally over and now I can get to work again. This is what I'd wanted and hoped for most of the summer. I thought it might happen and now it has."

Sichting is a native Hoosier who played his college ball at Purdue, but he'd grown weary of Pacer management and Indiana's losing records. He was a free agent this summer and inked a four-year, $850,000 offer sheet with the Celtics. The Pacers matched the offer last Friday, and asked Boston for a first-round draft pick in exchange for Sichting. The Celts offered two seconds and Indiana waited until yesterday to accept.

"This is what I thought was reasonable compensation all along," said Boston general manager Jan Volk. "So I'm not sure what happened."

The Pacers requested that the specifics of the two picks not be disclosed. However, one of them will not be Boston's 1986 second-rounder, which was shipped to the Knicks last season for Ray Williams.

Sichting, who did not report to the Pacers' camp, is scheduled to practice with the Celts today and could play in Boston's first exhibition at Boston Garden, against the Philadelphia 76ers, tomorrow night.

Like everyone else who's joined the Celtics lately, Sichting said it was nice to be playing for a winner.

"That's a whole new ballgame and it's what every player should play for," he said. "The opportunity to play for a contender is what I'm excited about."

Playing with fellow Hoosier Larry Bird also has some appeal.

"They have a lot of good players besides Bird," noted Sichting. "But Larry seems to make everyone he plays with a better player and he'll probably make me a better player."

The acquisition of Sichting means that (barring injuries or a mood shift by Sly Williams) there is only one job open on the roster. Rick Carlisle, Carlos Clark and David Thirdkill are the frontrunners for the final spot. Rookie hopefuls Ronnie Williams, Rick Lamb, Andre Battle and Tracy Mitchell face an uphill battle . . . Bird was white hot during yesterday's early scrimmage. He also unveiled the lefty jump hook he's been working on.