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By David Arrojo

Celtics fans should be green with envy. Walker was a steal for the Mavericks, who are the undisputed winners of the 5-player Boston-Dallas swap.

It was a move that was months in the making.

After having been outplayed and overmatched by both Jermaine O'Neal and Kenyon Martin in the playoffs, Antoine Walker seemed bound for another NBA team. For those who still had their doubts, Walker's departure was all but assured when the Celtics hired Danny Ainge, an outspoken critic of the forward's poor shot selection and style of play, to be their new President of Basketball Operations. Within days of Ainge's hiring, rumors swirled throughout the league that Walker's days with "the Green" were numbered. So when it was announced Monday that the Celtics had sent him packing, the move wasn't all that surprising.

Yet the result surely was.

Ainge packaged Walker and sharpshooter Tony Delk for Dallas' Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mills and a lottery pick. All of the sudden, the Mavs are stocked with more guns than a pawn shop, and the Celtics' roster is just plain bare.

Throughout the offseason, Ainge made no secret of his desire to acquire a legitimate center and a solid point guard to shore up the Celtics' rotation. Yet even though Ainge's latest transaction landed him one of the pieces he so greatly coveted, it seems to have come at a significant expense.

Although Walker's shooting percentage have been low and numbers have been faltering (his 7.2 rebounds per game were a career low, and his 4.8 assist average was his lowest since the lockout-shortened season), he nonetheless ranked as the team's second leading scorer and rebounder in the previous season. Critics are also quick to forget that the eighth-year forward did so after battling knee problems all year. And despite any of these flaws, Walker averaged more than 20 points a night, often sparking key runs down the stretch of close games.

But with Walker gone, who will replace his offensive production? Pierce already set a career high last season in nightly shot attempts, and looked tired down the stretch as well. LaFrentz's output as a Maverick was erratic at best, and though the center shone while in Denver several seasons ago, his work ethic has been questioned. Many consider Welsch to have potential, but the second-year veteran averaged a measly 1.8 points per game in his rookie year on 25% shooting, and his playing time behind Pierce will likely be limited. Walter McCarty and Jumaine Jones, while respected role players, contribute only single-digit scoring averages. Barring the emergence of a powerful scoring threat, the Celtics will be pressed to find a consistent second option on offense to support Pierce.

Walker's loss will also hurt the Celtics' playmaking abilities. Since trading Kenny Anderson to Seattle in 2002, Boston has resorted to playing point guard-by-committee. Rookie J.R. Bremer and Delk were plugged into the lineup last year, but the responsibility of initiating the offense rested squarely on Walker's shoulders - and he led the team in assists. Now, with neither Walker, Delk, nor Bremer remaining on the roster, O'Brien is left with an untested newcomer (Marcus Banks) and a serviceable second-string backup (Mike James) to coordinate his offense. Given that the Celtics' lack of strength at the point guard position already created difficulties for last year's squad, this deficiency will be even more pronounced now that Walker and his superior passing abilities have left town.

Perhaps most importantly, however, the Celtics have lost a locker room presence and a team leader in Walker. As Pierce himself noted following the 2002 playoffs, people "can see what [Antoine] does on the court, but they would have to be around him on a daily basis to appreciate his charisma, his consistent leadership, his mental toughness. When Antoine speaks, we hear him." The trade of Walker disrupts a favorable chemistry that carried the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals in 2002, and deprives the team of an emotional, professional, community-minded player-hardly a commodity in today's league.

The Mavs, by contrast, have deprived themselves of nothing. They have added a scorer who will more than fill the offensive void left by Van Exel's departure. Don Nelson has demonstrated an uncanny ability to manage multiple egos and play players out of position effectively, and should continue to do so even with Walker in his lineup. And because Walker is able to opt out of the final year of his contract at the end of the 2003-2004 season, the transaction could actually save the Mavericks bundles in salary money. Even if the former Celtic does not mesh with the team system, Dallas management has an excess of trade fodder with which to include Walker as part of yet another blockbuster deal.

Another multiplayer trade tipped decisively in Dallas' favor.

Objectively, Ainge inherited a bad situation in Walker: since management wasn't willing to meet Antoine's price for an extension next season, this year probably would have been his last as a Celtic. For Ainge to seek something in return was a wise move, but to trade an All-Star for a bloated 6-year contract and some extra millions in salary cap relief (i.e. Chris Mills' salary which, because of injury, will be covered largely by insurance) suggests that Ainge and the Celtic organization grossly undervalued Walker's contribution to their team. Monday's swap was not at all commensurate, and for the second time in several months, Mark Cuban's Mavericks have once again executed a sensational trade. And for this, Celtics fans should be green with envy.