Let’s Make a Deal: For Clippers and Celtics, It Wasn’t That Easy

In the National Basketball Assn., trading can be as simple as making a few phone calls and shuffling some legal papers or as difficult as spending weeks of haggling over players and complicated terms to stay under the league’s salary cap.

In a case by itself, though, was the trade of Bill Walton for Cedric Maxwell, which seemingly set a new standard for degree of difficulty.

It took the Clippers and Boston Celtics three months of dickering, bickering and legal maneuvering to finally get Walton to Boston, and Maxwell and a 1986 first-round draft choice to Los Angeles. The deal was completed Sept. 6.

At times, it seemed that the trade would never happen. The questionable condition of Maxwell’s injured left knee slowed the proceedings. And restructuring both contracts to accommodate salary restrictions slowed them even more.

And not incidentally, there also was the possibility that Walton would sign as a free agent with the Lakers. He very well might have, but he failed their physical examination July 1.

Walton’s failing the Laker physical may be a story in itself, but here it serves only as an interesting subplot in a tale of legal and contractual red tape and Monty Hall-like wheeling and dealing.

That shouldn’t be too surprising, knowing the parties involved in the trade. The principals:

--The Celtics’ President Red Auerbach and General Manager Jan Volk. Auerbach, a shrewd curmudgeon who has burned many teams in trades over the years, played a supervisory role, while Volk did much of the actual negotiating with the Clippers.

--The Clippers’ owner Donald T. Sterling, General Manager Carl Scheer, and general counsel Arn Tellem. The Clippers, Sterling in particular, are known for dragging their feet. This time, though, Scheer took a major role in negotiating, and Tellem in restructuring the contracts.

--Bill Walton, a free-spirit whose last Clipper contract was as thick as the phone book for the San Fernando Valley and who refused to sign last season until he was assured of 56 tickets to Bruce Springsteen concerts.

--Cedric Maxwell and agent Ron Grinker, both of whom incessantly pushed for a trade after the Celtics had questioned Maxwell’s dedication to knee rehabilitation. He had undergone arthroscopic surgery for torn cartilage in his left knee in February.

Now that the trade is history and Walton and Maxwell have switched teams and coasts, those involved say that spending their summer vacation as they did was worth it, that they are happy they didn’t give in when it seemed as if the obstacles were too great.

There were, of course, some trade-offs.

Walton gave up a significant chunk of his Clipper contract and signed for only $450,000 with the Celtics so that he could have a chance to play on a potential championship team again before ending his career. Maxwell gave up the Celtic mystique for the Clippers’ streak of seven straight non-playoff seasons, but at least he feels wanted.

And, as Volk said of the compromises both teams made: “I think we’re taking a serious gamble with Bill, but I think the Clippers also gave up a great player--when he’s healthy.”

Here is a look at the development of the trade:

June 10-17: The morning after the Celtics’ loss to the Lakers in the sixth and final game of the playoffs, Auerbach, Volk, Coach K.C. Jones, assistant coach Jimmy Rodgers and Larry Bird went back into the Boston Garden to rehash what had happened and to plan for the 1985-86 season.

As the men were walking out to lunch, Auerbach’s secretary stopped them. Auerbach had a message to call Bill Walton.

“We all looked at each other and said, ‘How about him?’ ” Volk said. “It was like a light bulb turning on.”

By the time Auerbach returned his call, however, Walton had left for a European vacation. But Volk was on the phone to Scheer in Los Angeles the next day.

The Celtics agreed that Maxwell had to go, but his market value was not high because of his injured knee and his $800,000 annual contract for the next three seasons. If the Celtics were to make any significant roster moves, they would have to dump Maxwell’s hefty salary.

From the start, the Clippers were divided on Maxwell.

Coach Don Chaney, who had played with Maxwell in Boston and who introduced Maxwell to his future wife, thought the 6-8 forward would solve the Clippers’ power forward problems. And since the Clippers were going to select 7-foot Benoit Benjamin in the draft, they figured to still be strong at center.

But Scheer, who had watched Maxwell limp through the championship series, balked.

June 18: While Clipper management was busy drafting players from a suite at the Beverly Wilshire hotel, Maxwell arrived at Los Angeles International Airport and headed for Inglewood, where he had a physical examination scheduled with Dr. Tony Daly, the Clippers’ physician.

At the urging of Chaney and Grinker, Maxwell’s agent, who also represents three other Clippers, Scheer wanted to see just how weak Maxwell’s knee was. Volk readily gave Scheer permission to examine Maxwell.

Using a Cybex machine, which measures the strength of muscles, Daly determined that Maxwell’s left quadriceps muscle, the one above the knee, was 25% weaker than corresponding muscle in the right leg.

In short, Maxwell failed the physical.

Maxwell returned to Boston, and Scheer told Volk and the media that any talk of a trade was off until Maxwell’s knee improved.

June 21-26: Since Walton was a free agent until July 31, there was a possibility that he could sign with the Celtics without the Clippers being compensated. Before that could happen, though, the Celtics would have to find a way to rid themselves of Maxwell’s contract.

On Friday, June 21, Walton met Auerbach at LAX and had a long talk about the chances of a trade. That weekend, during the NBA meetings in San Francisco, Walton was examined by Dr. Thomas Silva, the Celtic physician, in Silva’s hotel room. No X-rays or sophisticated equipment were used. Walton passed.

Scheer, Daly, Auerbach, Volk and Silva then met in Auerbach’s room. When Daly presented the results of Maxwell’s physical, Auerbach choked on his cigar and tried to keep the trade alive.

Scheer said: “I’ll never forget what Red said. He said, ‘Doctors and Cybex machines don’t mean (bleep). I’ve never seen a machine rebound and score.’ ”

Still, the trade appeared dead for a second time.

But hope was kept alive by Grinker, who received permission from the Celtics for Maxwell to rehabilitate his knee for a month in Los Angeles with Jim Bush, the Clippers’ conditioning coach.

Meanwhile, Scheer and Laker General Manager Jerry West met in a hallway. “Jerry told me he had no interest in signing Bill and I believed him,” Scheer said.

July 1: Walton was given a physical by Dr. Robert Kerlan, the Lakers’ physician. He was put through a battery of tests and was deemed unfit to play for the Lakers.

“I did examine him,” Kerlan said. “But unless I get permission from Walton, I would rather not discuss it. I just don’t want to affect his future, now that he’s decided to play (again).”

Daly and other sources said that, among other problems, Kerlan found that Walton’s knees were in bad shape. Walton, who has a long history of foot and ankle problems, did not return a reporter’s phone calls.

Daly, a close friend of Walton, said, however, that Walton is healthy.

“What I heard was, it was because of Bill’s knees,” Daly said. “But there’s nothing wrong with his knee other than tendinitis (in the tendon below the kneecap), which a lot of veterans have and play with. Bill also has problems with his right ankle, which acted up last year, but his (troublesome) left foot and ankle are fine.”

There are many theories as to why Walton failed the physical. Some close the situation said he simply is not fit. Others said that the Lakers wanted to find a way to scare Boston off and keep Walton with the Clippers. Still others said that Kerlan, Walton’s former doctor, always thought Walton was too banged up to be effective.

Whatever the case, Laker Coach Pat Riley said that the Lakers had a genuine interest in signing Walton.

“If it had gotten to (the point of making a decision), I would’ve had to talk to Bill,” Riley said. “If he had told me he couldn’t have practiced, it might have been a problem. . . . No team buys that. I don’t think the Clippers bought it. I don’t think the Lakers would’ve bought it. I don’t think the Celtics will buy it.”

Volk said that the Celtics knew that Walton had failed the Lakers’ physical, but that it made no difference.

“We made our judgment based on our physicals,” said Volk, who had Silva give Walton a complete examination in September. “I have a very extensive report. As for practice, Bill has practiced in all the two-a-days. But if there is a 10 a.m. practice after a night game, we’ll understand if he takes it off.”

Scheer was asked if he had worried that the Lakers would tell the Celtics of Walton’s failed physical and, thus, spoil the pending trade.

“Never,” Scheer said, laughing. “I’ve always felt that West and Lakers probably hated the Celtics worse than they hated us.”

July 22-31: With Walton’s free-agent status running out, his representatives, Ernie and Gary Vandeweghe, sought an extension so that Boston could try to work something out.

“Ernie was panicky,” Scheer said. “Did he really think I’d give him an extension? Once Walton’s free agency ran out, I knew the pendulum had swung toward us.”

Negotiations were resumed during the last week of Walton’s free agency. It was then that the Clippers and Celtics realized that both contracts would have to be renegotiated for the teams to stay under the salary cap.

At that point, though, Maxwell had failed another physical--his left leg still was 12% weaker--but the clubs thought they had come up with an solution to the salary-cap problem.

“Now, the problem was how much of Maxwell’s salary Boston would take,” Scheer said. “We couldn’t agree on it.”

Again, the deal appeared to be in trouble.

Aug. 15: Volk called Scheer and told him the Celtics were tired of the on-again, off-again talks and said they didn’t want to make the deal. A few days later, Scheer called Auerbach, at home recuperating from a gall bladder operation, and told him it was a deal “that’s meant to be made, so let’s work it out.”

Auerbach, reportedly a bit testy, told Scheer that he’d do it but now the Clippers wouldn’t receive the Celtics’ first-round draft choice in 1986.

“I said, ‘Red, we agreed to that long ago,’ ” Scheer said. “He hung up the phone.”

Aug. 28: General Manager Harry Weltman of the Cleveland Cavaliers called Scheer and asked if he would be interested in trading Walton for one or possibly two Cavalier forwards.

“He also asked me if Walton would play for them,” Scheer said. “I said, ‘Why don’t you call Bill?’ I kind of manufactured that, though. . . . What happened then was that Bill must have quickly called Boston and pleaded because Volk called me the next day.”

Aug. 30: After two days of intense talks, Scheer and Volk agreed on terms. The Celtics would get Walton. The Clippers would get Maxwell and the first-round draft choice. Boston would pay half ($400,000) of Maxwell’s $800,000 contract.

The deal hinged on whether Maxwell and Walton would pass their physicals. Maxwell, examined near his home in North Carolina by a friend of Daly, passed. Both legs were found to be equal in strength. Walton flew to Boston and passed his physical.

Now, it was up to Tellem and Volk to find a way to have only half of Maxwell’s salary count against the Clippers’ cap. Under league rules, a team assumes all of a player’s salary in a trade even if his old team pays half of it, unless there is a renegotiated contract.

Scheer left for North Carolina for a wedding, then was traveling on to New York to watch the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Volk had scheduled a week’s trip to St. Martin Island, and Tellem was planning to join his wife in the Napa Valley.

Everyone figured that the trade would be done in a day or two, tops.

Aug 31: The principals thought that they had a way around the salary cap, but NBA counsel Gary Bettman, in Bermuda on a combination business-vacation trip, shot it down.

“Maxwell had a substantial amount of deferred money in the remaining three years of his contract, and we thought we’d put that into a fourth and fifth year and guarantee only the deferred portion,” Tellem said. “The league said it was the same contract, and it was.”

Tellem attended a Dodger game with his legal partner Steve Greenberg that night. Greenberg and Tellem represent about 50 baseball players, among them Dodger Bill Madlock.

Madlock had his contract renegotiated before he joined the Dodgers, and the manner in which it was done gave Tellem an idea in solving the salary-cap puzzle.

“What we had to do was create a contract that the league would think would be different but had the same dollar amount for Maxwell,” Tellem said. “I called Volk from the Dodger game with an idea for a trigger clause.

“Basically, the way we did it was at the end of the third year of the contract, if Maxwell is still on the team after X number of days, the money is fully guaranteed. After the fourth year, if he’s on the team after a certain amount of days, it’s also guaranteed. Basically, we changed the language a lot and the deferred money, too.”

Sept. 2-6: It took two days to reach Bettman in Bermuda. As expected, he approved the contract. Meanwhile, Walton had already approved his $450,000 contract with Boston.

So, what was the holdup?

It turned out that Walton had to reach a settlement with the Clippers under the terms of his old contract. After mulling over the decision for a few days, Walton decided to give up a reported $110,000 of his old contract, and the deal was set.

“You could say Bill left money on the table,” Gary Vandeweghe said.

Added Volk: “A significant amount.”

Sept 7: Press conferences were held on both coasts.

Maxwell, who had been in Los Angeles for two days, house hunting, jokingly told writers: “I’m just taking up Bill Walton’s spot. Don has already told me I don’t have to practice.”

Walton couldn’t get to Boston in time. But a relieved Volk told Boston writers: “This was the most difficult trade I’ve had to make.”

Times staff writers Thomas Bonk and Randy Harvey contributed to this story.