To Glove or Not to Glove?

2/8/05

MILWAUKEE - As the Feb. 24 trading deadline draws near, the stature and importance of free-agent-to-be Gary Payton to the 2004-05 Celtics becomes more and more critical.

Will the Celtics trade Payton, who has been one of their most valuable players? Or will they keep him for the rest of the season, try to win the brutal Atlantic Division, and let him ride off into the sunset without compensation? There's a third option, of course, that they re-sign the veteran point guard. But he seems inclined to go West at the first possible opportunity.

The first-place Celtics finally got to .500 Sunday and will attempt to cross their personal Rubicon tonight at the Bradley Center against the last-place Bucks of the Central Division. That they are where they are - and no one is saying that where they are is anything to crow about - is due in part to Payton, who was assumed to be a short-term Celtic if for no other reason than he is in the final year of his contract and wants to be closer to his family in California.

Payton, who played in Milwaukee briefly in 2002-03 when he was dealt under similar circumstances by the SuperSonics, has been a rock in the Boston backcourt. Nowhere was that more apparent than in the Target Center Sunday against the Timberwolves, where Payton played 36 turnover-free minutes, scored 22 points, dished out 7 assists - all of that after having spent the previous 48 hours flying from Boston to California to take care of his sick mother.

That's the dilemma facing the Celtics these days: You don't want Payton to play poorly because he would then have no trade value, but if he plays really well, then you might lose sight of the big picture and keep him on for a run at the playoffs.

After the 103-100 victory, captain Paul Pierce was asked if he wished Payton would stick around for the rest of the season.

"I'd hate to see him go," Pierce said. "He's been very instrumental in my development this year. He's a guy who I can talk to and who I have a lot of respect for, [a guy] who's been around the block a few times. As you can see, we don't really have a lot of experience on this team. So, when I come to a roadblock, it's like, who else do I go to? Gary's been that guy."

All season, whether it be Doc Rivers or Danny Ainge, the Celtics' bosses have gushed over Payton, often with unsolicited encomiums. Payton earned a lot of it. He has played very well. He has done so sometimes under difficult family circumstances. But the praise also served notice to any potential suitors that they would be getting a Payton who had turned things around after last season's disappointment with the Lakers.

"It's been unbelievable," Ainge said yesterday. "I've always been a fan of Gary's, but I was worried because he was at a certain stage of his career and the other issues with his family. I'm just glad he's been a real pro as well as a huge and positive influence on the team on and off the court."

Payton himself has talked about being traded, wondering openly recently how much time he had remaining in a Boston uniform. That was when he also mentioned that he thought two potential future employers might be the Kings or the Timberwolves. (After what we saw Sunday, Minnesota could use him.)

But he has never elaborated on his intentions, only to say that he knows the NBA is a business and that the Celtics are going to do what's best for the Celtics, not what's best for Gary Payton.

He reiterated that Sunday as thirsty Minnesota reporters wondered if he'd like to move to the Twin Cities.

"Our team is playing really well right now," he said, "so I'm just going along with this team. I like the guys I'm around. Everyone's chirping about me going places. I'm not thinking about it. We're just trying to make this team better and better and, right now, we're clicking real good.

"Whatever happens, happens," Payton said. "Right now, I'm a Boston Celtic and we're going to keep trying to win basketball games."

. . .

Pierce picked up Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors after averaging 25 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2.5 steals a game as the Celtics went 3-1. This is the eighth time Pierce has been named Player of the Week, his first time this season. He also has two Player of the Month awards, one of which he shared with Antoine Walker. Pierce will find out today if he has been selected by the Eastern Conference coaches to be a reserve for the Feb. 20 All-Star Game in Denver . . . Prior to their back-to-back wins over the weekend, the Celtics had been 0-16 in games in which an opponent shot 46.6 percent or better from the field. But both Orlando (46.8 percent) and Minnesota (46.9) shot better and lost. The Celtics are 0-13 if a team shoots 47 percent or better . . . Rivers put the team through a one-hour workout at the Bradley Center and then headed off to Florida to see his son play in a high school game. He was due back for this morning's shootaround.