Milwaukee Gets Payton for Allen

In a blockbuster five-player deal Thursday at the trading deadline, Ray Allen was sent from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Seattle SuperSonics for Gary Payton and Desmond Mason.

The SuperSonics also received guards Kevin Ollie and Ronald Murray and a conditional first-round draft pick. The trade ended Payton’s career in Seattle after 12 1/2 seasons and reunited him with Coach George Karl -- Payton’s coach when the SuperSonics lost to the Chicago Bulls in the 1996 NBA Finals.

Milwaukee plays at Seattle tonight, but SuperSonic General Manager Rick Sund said that neither Payton nor the four others in the trade would play.

Payton’s contract expires after this season, and Seattle risked losing the nine-time All-Star guard over the summer on the free-agent market with nothing in return. Instead, they acquired one of the purest shooters in the game in Allen, a six-year veteran and three-time all-star.

Seattle also agreed to a trade with the New Orleans Hornets, exchanging point guard Kenny Anderson for center Elden Campbell.

In the day’s only other deal, the Boston Celtics sent point guard Shammond Williams to the Denver Nuggets for center Mark Blount and forward Mark Bryant.