MONTROSS SHIPPED TO DALLAS FOR THE NO. 6 PICK

June 22, 1996

MONTROSS SHIPPED TO DALLAS FOR THE NO. 6 PICK

WALTHAM -- M.L. Carr's enthusiasm was unrestrained. With one deal, he said, the Celtics are now better off financially and, more important, have added flexibility. And they may not be through.

It remains to be seen whether they are a better basketball team.

Yesterday, in a move that was waiting to happen, Carr finally unloaded Eric Montross, the team's first-round pick in 1994. Montross is headed to Dallas for the Mavericks' first pick this year, No. 6 overall, and their own No. 1 next year. Dallas also receives the Celtics' first-round pick this year, ninth overall.

As of now, the Celtics will be drafting sixth next Wednesday, but Carr said, ``This pick is available, too. We now have flexibility we did not have before. This is an incredible deal for this organization. People should be happy about it.''

Montross told the Globe from North Carolina last night, ``The bottom line is that everyone wants to develop as a player to his full potential and M.L. realized that I wasn't going to be a part of that team that he wanted, a smaller, quicker team. I will be a better player in the end for all of this. Dallas has done a very good job of building. I'm anxious to be a part of that.''

Montross will look out of the post in Dallas and see three players the caliber of which he never saw in Boston: Jimmy Jackson, Jason Kidd and Jamal Mashburn. And they will see a bona fide center who can bang, rebound and get his share of garbage points, something they've never seen. Montross is exactly what Dallas needs, but he does have an opt-out clause in his contract which kicks in at the end of the 1996-97 season.