Shawn Kemp, who wanted to be traded because he wants to be paid, had one wish fulfilled, and another is on the way.
Kemp's often turbulent career in Seattle came to its conclusion Thursday night when the Seattle SuperSonics dealt him to the Cleveland Cavaliers - the NBA team with the most salary cap room available - in a three-team, five-player deal involving three All-Stars.The Sonics will receive Vin Baker from Milwaukee, the Bucks will get Terrell Brandon and Tyrone Hill from Cleveland, and the Cavs will get Kemp from Seattle and Sherman Douglas from Milwaukee.
The Bucks also will get Cleveland's first-round draft choice in 1998, unless the Cavs qualify for one of the first 10 selections.
"I think in a lot of ways our mental health got better today, our focus got better today," said Seattle coach George Karl, summing up the theme of the trade - Kemp's disgruntlement and the Sonics' need to get value in return.
A trade had been expected since the disgruntled forward declared last May that he had worn a Sonics uniform for the final time.
Kemp became increasingly frustrated last season, both with his long-term contract paying him $3.6 million this season and his belief that someone in the organization had told the media that Kemp had a drinking problem.
The Sonics, who were unable - but willing - to redo Kemp's contract because of salary cap rules, decided this summer that the time had come for a trade - especially with Kemp vowing to sit out training camp.
With Baker-for-Kemp rumors circulating at the league meetings last week, Seattle general manager Wally Walker said he preferred to deal Kemp to an Eastern Conference team.
"Shawn was a great All-Star and really the cornerstone of this franchise for a long time," Walker said.
The logical contenders were Cleveland and Toronto, since both are well under the salary cap. The Bucks, who apparently decided that Baker would exercise an out clause in his contract and become a free agent in 1999, would have needed to trade several more players to get far enough under the salary cap to have funds available for re-doing Kemp's contract.