Knicks Trade Four Players to Get Mills

The New York Knicks accelerated their quest for a championship, trading four players--including their three youngest--to the Boston Celtics for forward Chris Mills.

New York dealt second-year forwards Walter McCarty and Dontae’ Jones, rookie forward John Thomas and veteran guard Scott Brooks to the Celtics. The Knicks also will have the option of choosing from any of Boston’s six second-round picks over the next four years.

“We’re playing for right now,” New York Coach Jeff Van Gundy said. “I think people get too concerned with youth. You want players who are good and who are in their prime.”

The trade was surprising on both sides--but especially for the Celtics, who signed Mills, 27, only two months ago to a seven-year, $33.6 million contract after he left the Cleveland Cavaliers as a free agent. Also, Brooks does not seem to fit in on a team that already has an abundance of point guards.

“Our dream is a lot further along down the road than the Knicks,” Celtic Coach Rick Pitino said, adding that more moves will be necessary before the Oct. 31 season opener. “The Knicks feel like they’re on a championship drive right now.”

Mills figures to have his playing time greatly reduced by going from the Celtics’ starting lineup to a backup role behind small forward Larry Johnson. That’s why, Mills said, Pitino gave him veto power over the trade.

Mills is a four-year veteran whose scoring average increased every year until dipping from 15.1 to 13.4 last season when he played for the low-scoring Cavs. A career 38% shooter from three-point range, he will give the Knicks another scoring option off the bench other than John Starks.

Knick General Manager Ernie Grunfeld said Mills will also help out at shooting guard.

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Dennis Rodman must decide if he really wants to play for the Chicago Bulls, says Coach Phil Jackson, who isn’t sure the team can win another NBA title without the six-time rebounding champion.

“My message to management was if we couldn’t sign Brian Williams, we had to have Dennis--and we didn’t sign Williams. We need Dennis’ fire. We need that player who can instill some fear,” Jackson told The Associated Press on Wednesday, a day before Rodman was to announce whether he will return.

“I don’t know if we can or can’t win without him. All I know is it would be a lot easier with him.”

Rodman, who has said he will decide by noon today if he’ll return to the Bulls, initially had expressed displeasure with incentive clauses in a one-year contract he has yet to sign. But Jackson and Rodman’s agent, Dwight Manley, both said the contract is no longer the issue.

“I think Dennis put the onus on himself as to whether he needs or wants to play,” Jackson said. “I don’t think Dennis has to play, financially.

“I think he’s got a lot of things that have happened for him over the last two years, and right now I think he’s got to really want to come back and play with this team and want to be with his teammates . . . to come back and give us the word that, ‘Hey, it’s a go, and the season’s on.’

“It’s all come down to the fact that negotiations and contract and everything else are OK. It’s just now whether it’s in his heart to play or not.”

The deal reportedly has a base salary of $4.5 million with incentives that could push it past the $9-million deal he had in 1996-97.

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The Dallas Mavericks signed 6-foot-6 guard Reggie Freeman to a non-guaranteed, one-year contract after he was cut by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks had signed the former Texas star and consensus All-Big 12 player as a free agent after he went unclaimed in the 1997 draft.

Also, the Mavericks signed free-agent guard Jerome Allen, a third-year player cut earlier this preseason. He averaged 2.6 points per game in 41 games as a rookie with Minnesota and 3.0 points per game in 76 games with Denver and Indiana last season.