February 11, 1985
CELTICS SEEK RAY WILLIAMS FOR OFFENSE
The Celtics are exploring the possibility of a personnel change before Friday's NBA trading deadline, and free agent guard Ray Williams is a player Boston is interested in.
Team president Red Auerbach spent part of his All-Star weekend asking people what they thought of Williams, who has not played with any team this year. Auerbach left here before yesterday's game and Celtic general manager Jan Volk would not divulge the reason for the sudden departure. Auerbach was not at his Washington home yesterday but was expected to return late last night.
Volk confirmed that the Celtic brain trust had held an evaluation meeting in Indianapolis, but he would not discuss Williams or any other player.
"Anything could happen," said Volk. "A lot of people are doing a lot of talking . . . We'd be content to go with what we have, but if there's an opportunity that makes sense, we'll consider it."
Coach K. C. Jones indicated that he's dissatisfied with his team's offensive punch. "It's something to look at right now," said Jones. "The defensive end has been holding up the whole show. For the second half, we have to have more at the offensive end as far as execution and timing."
Asked about Williams, Jones said, "He's a hell of a ballplayer. You can tell from what he did in the playoffs against us last year. He can shoot it and he can drive."
Williams, 30, is a seven-year veteran who has played with the Knicks, Nets and Kings. His career scoring average is 16.9 and he averaged 14.8 with the Knicks last year. He made $500,000 in the final year of his contract and was offered only $220,000 by the Knicks this year. He chose to sit, and is still sitting. His agent, Fred Slaughter (also Dennis Johnson's agent), did not return The Globe's calls yesterday.
Signing Williams would require some creative dealing by the Celtics. They are over the salary cap and would have to free up some money by trading a player to another team. Scott Wedman and Quinn Buckner are the players who would probably be moved if the team signs a free agent. Wedman makes $700,000, Buckner $246,000. It's unlikely anyone would want to pay Wedman's salary, but the Celtics can deal a player, continue to pay his salary, and still legally sign a free agent.
It seems curious that the Celtics would be interested in Williams considering his reputation as the godfather of trick-or-treat players. His style drove Knicks coach Hubie Brown crazy.
"But you never know what a guy's going to be like until he gets on your team," said Larry Bird.
The Celtics may not sign Williams, but it's clear that they'd like to add some offensive punch to their bench for the stretch run and playoffs.
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