Vandeweghe, Ainge Dealt; Dantley Decides to Report

With the trading deadline only hours away, there was a flurry of activity in the National Basketball Assn. Thursday as several seemingly stalled deals were completed.

Among the more noteworthy:

--Kiki Vandeweghe of the Portland Trail Blazers was finally traded to the New York Knicks for a No. 1 draft choice in 1989.

--Forward Adrian Dantley, acquired by the Dallas Mavericks last week from the Detroit Pistons for Mark Aguirre, decided to report to the Mavericks after being faced with a suspension.

--Guard Danny Ainge and forward Brad Lohaus were dealt by the Boston Celtics to the Sacramento Kings for center Joe Kleine and forward Ed Pinckney.

--Guard John Long, who played eight years for the Pistons, re-signed with the club, which waived backup center Darryl Dawkins, who is free to negotiate with other teams.

The Vandeweghe deal ended weeks of speculation and negotiations as the Trail Blazers talked with several other teams before making the deal only hours before Thursday night’s trading deadline.

Trail Blazer spokeswoman Jennifer Glickman said the trade was conditional on Vandeweghe, 30, passing a physical examination with the Knicks today. Vandeweghe has been sidelined recently with back problems.

“I found out about it (the trade) on the bus going to practice (in Cleveland),” Vandeweghe said. “I was excited. I wanted to go where I was wanted and to be part of what the Knicks are building in New York. There’s no better center around than Patrick Ewing, and Mark Jackson is a tremendous point guard.”

The 6-foot 8-inch Vandeweghe, in and out of the lineup, was averaging 13.9 points a game for the Trail Blazers, but he averaged 26.9 during the 1986-87 season.

The first-place Knicks hope Vandeweghe is the high-scoring forward they have been seeking since Bernard King was injured and later signed as a free agent by Washington.

Ainge, who turns 30 in three weeks, played in 45 games for Boston this season. He averaged 16.1 points and 4.8 assists in 30 minutes a game. Ainge scored a career-high 45 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 9. However, he recently was taken out of the starting lineup in favor of rookie Brian Shaw and was installed as the Celtics’ sixth man.

Lohaus, 24, a second-year center from Iowa, is averaging 5.6 points and three rebounds a game.

Pinckney, 25, has averaged 12 points a game for the Kings. A first-round draft pick out of Villanova in 1985, the 6-8 forward was acquired by Sacramento two years ago from the Phoenix Suns.

Kleine, 27, was the Kings’ first-round draft pick in 1985, when the team moved to Sacramento. Kleine is averaging 6.7 points and 5.1 rebounds in 19.4 minutes a game.

Dantley, who was balking at joining the Mavericks until they added a year onto his contract, relented and said he may play in tonight’s game against Golden State.

“Dantley will report with his contract unaltered,” said Kevin Sullivan, Maverick public relations director.

Dantley missed three games at a cost of $45,000.

The Mavericks tried without success all day to find a team willing to give them a No. 1 draft pick for Dantley and threatened to put him on the NBA’s suspended list.