Ceballos Returned to Sender

This time, he was told to go to Arizona.

Destined for employment and not an in-season water skiing break at one of its lakes, Cedric Ceballos became a member of the Phoenix Suns again Friday, traded by the Lakers along with Rumeal Robinson for Robert Horry and Joe Kleine, a deal that brings to Los Angeles a better defensive player and someone who has shown the ability to accept a role.

Ceballos, of course, struggled in both departments. His considerable scoring potential, 21.4 points a game in the two seasons before Shaquille O’Neal arrived, still often wasn’t enough to keep him off the bench in the fourth quarter of close games, his offense overshadowed by a poor showing at the other end. And a desire to be in the spotlight had alienated many teammates and apparently led to his going AWOL to Lake Havasu last season.

Ceballos--a Sun for the first four years of his pro career before being traded to Los Angeles, his hometown, for a first-round pick--said he left to deal with family matters. Either way, the Lakers insist, what happened Friday was not a delayed response.

“It didn’t have anything to do with it,” General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. “Since he came back, and I think Del [Harris, the coach] would agree with this, he has been an ideal player for us.

“He’s really been a wonderful person for everybody to be around since that time. . . . We’ll miss him. We really will.”

Added Eddie Jones, a now-former teammate: “A lot of people are sorry to see him go. Cedric’s a good person. Nobody in the locker room did not like Cedric. Everybody was cool with him.”

Sometimes, they were very cool with him, or toward him. Their relationship, on the whole, could best be described as businesslike--not usually close but friendly enough for the good of the team.

Nick Van Exel, the Laker most openly critical about Ceballos’ walkout, was asked for a reaction Friday.

“No comment,” he said.

Equally telling was that the one phrase that kept coming up as the Lakers commented on the impending arrival of Horry, probably for practice today and then his debut Tuesday at the Forum against the Vancouver Grizzlies, was how he can handle being a role player. A positive addition for the defense, 6 feet 10 and versatile enough to play both forward spots, a three-point threat, a runner . . . and a role player.

“I don’t think it will affect the balance of the team,” said Jones, whose emergence as a major offensive weapon might have helped management feel like it can survive without Ceballos’ points. “Horry is a good person. Horry won two championships and knows what his role is. If he comes in and everybody lets him know what needs to be done, everything will be fine.”

The trade, which the sides first discussed a couple weeks ago but heated up in the last few days, was completed Friday at about 2 p.m., so Ceballos attended the morning shoot-around at the Forum without knowledge of the deal. Harris, who had tried to defend Ceballos’ quirky ways of distancing himself from the team on the bench and looking away from the huddle during timeouts, said his former all-star small forward was “disappointed” by the news.

If so, he quickly got over it, heading to the locker room to clean out some personal belongings in hopes of rushing to Phoenix and playing Friday night as a Sun against the Charlotte Hornets. Ceballos couldn’t have played even if he made it because all players have to pass physicals before a trade becomes final and Horry wasn’t due in Los Angeles until around 8 p.m. and Kleine not until today.

Horry, at 26 a year younger than Ceballos, was a starter when the Houston Rockets won successive NBA titles, playing a huge role in the four-game sweep of Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic for the second, but he arrives with a new reputation. He had just served a two-game suspension for throwing a towel in the face of Sun Coach Danny Ainge, coming after a profanity-laced tirade and perhaps because of a frustrating season as a whole: mounting losses in Phoenix after being traded from Houston in the Charles Barkley deal, only 42.1% shooting, just 6.9 points a game.

“The incident had nothing to do with this,” Ainge said at a news conference in Phoenix. “We would have made the trade regardless. Robert was struggling in our system. He just never fit in.”

The new man with a bull’s-eye, Harris, said he isn’t concerned.

“I didn’t see it, so I don’t have any response visually. It’s hard for me to know how it came about. But I’m surprised a guy as agile as Danny didn’t duck. I can understand me taking one.”

Smiling, Harris added: “I do reserve the right to throw a towel back at him.”

Ceballos, out since Nov. 13 because of a partially torn knee ligament but expected by both teams to pass his physical, and Horry are the featured parts to the deal. Kleine, the 35-year-old center, got involved for salary-cap purposes, then the inclusion of Robinson finally made it work.

It’s a strange sequence of events for Robinson, the seldom-used veteran guard who signed with the Lakers during the summer as a free agent. He was a candidate to be cut in a few days to clear a roster spot for the return of Ceballos, but instead gets traded with Ceballos, although to a team that has an even greater glut at point guard.

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Trade Profiles

TO THE LAKERS

* Robert Horry: Born Aug. 25, 1970 . . . 6 feet 10, 220 pounds . . . drafted out of Alabama by the Houston Rockets in the first round (11th overall) of the 1992 draft . . . member of Rocket championship teams in 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons . . . traded before this season by Rockets with guard Sam Cassell and forwards Chucky Brown and Mark Bryant to Phoenix Suns for forward Charles Barkley and a 1999 second-round draft choice.

* 1996-97 averages: 6.9 points. 3.7 reb., 1.7 ast.

* Career averages: 10.2 points. 5.2 reb., 3.0 ast.

* Joe Kleine: Born Jan. 4, 1962 . . . drafted out of Notre Dame by the Sacramento Kings in the first round (sixth overall) of 1985 draft . . . signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Phoenix Suns on Aug. 16, 1993 . . . member of gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 1984.

* 1996-97 averages: 3.4 points. 3.5 reb., 0.5 ast.

* Career averages: 5.2 points. 4.4 reb., 0.7 ast.

TO THE SUNS

* Cedric Ceballos: Born Aug. 2, 1969 . . . 6-7, 225 pounds . . . drafted out of Cal State Fullerton by Phoenix Suns in second round (48th pick overall) of 1990 draft . . . traded by Suns on Sept. 23, 1994, to Lakers for 1995 first-round choice.

* 1996-97 averages: 10.8 points. 6.6 reb., 1.9 ast.

* Career averages: 14.9 points. 5.3 reb., 1.2 ast.

* Rumeal Robinson: Drafted out of Michigan by Atlanta Hawks in first round (10th pick overall) in 1990 draft . . . also played with New Jersey, Charlotte, Portland and in the CBA . . . signed by Lakers on Aug. 9, 1996.

* 1996-97 averages: 3.0 points. 0.7 reb., 0.9 ast.

* Career averages: 7.3 points. 1.7 reb., 3.4 ast.

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The Trade

*--*

HORRY CEBALLOS 26 Age 27 6-10 Height 6-7 220 Weight 225 5 Seasons 7 10.2 Rebounding 5.3 .445 FG% .523 .735 FT% .740

*--*

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THE REST OF THE DEAL

TO THE LAKERS

Joe Kleine, 35, a veteran 7-foot center, is expected to back up Shaquille O’Neal

TO THE SUNS

Rumeal Robinson, 30, lost minutes when rookie Derek Fisher blossomed quickly