BOSTON — Vin Baker is coming home to New England, and the Boston Celtics hope the return will revive his career.
They obtained the 6-foot-11 forward-center from the Seattle SuperSonics on Monday with guard Shammond Williams for guards Kenny Anderson and Joseph Forte and center Vitaly Potapenko.
Baker played in high school in Connecticut and went on to the University of Hartford before becoming a four-time NBA All-Star whose game has diminished the last few years.
"He had lost his confidence out on the floor and just couldn't get it back," Seattle coach Nate McMillan said. "We couldn't take another chance on bringing Vin back and having him not want to be here."
He has four years left on a contract reportedly worth more than $50 million.
That should seal the departure of free agent forward Rodney Rogers, a midseason acquisition who became a scoring threat. But the Celtics unloaded the $9.185 million they owed Anderson in the final year of his contract and they were unlikely to sign him to a long-term deal.
The Celtics gave up Anderson, a point guard who helped them reach the playoffs for the first time in seven years last season. But they picked up a prototypical power forward to play up front with Antoine Walker and center Tony Battie. Baker, a nine-year NBA veteran, played in four consecutive All-Star games from 1995-98 but none since.
"I believe the marriage between Vin Baker and the Sonics really had problems," McMillan said in Seattle.
Anderson, an 11-year veteran, is coming off one of his better seasons. Possible replacements at point guard are Tony Delk, who backed up Anderson last season, and Erick Strickland, a free agent.
Potapenko, who spent the last 3 1/2 seasons with the Celtics, averaged 4.6 points last season. He is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery after getting hurt in the last game of the regular season and was expected to be sidelined 6-to-8 months
Forte played sparingly last season after being drafted with the 21st pick. He scored just six points in eight games and spent most of the season on the injured list after an outstanding career at North Carolina.
The 27-year-old Williams also played at North Carolina and was drafted in the second round by Chicago in 1998. The Bulls immediately traded him to Atlanta, where he played two games as a rookie. He spent the last three seasons at Seattle as a backup point guard. He averaged 4.4 points in 50 games last season.
Baker, 30, is averaging 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds in his career, which began with Milwaukee in 1993-94. He spent three more seasons with the Bucks, making the All-Star game in those seasons, then played the last five years with the Sonics.
Last season, he averaged 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in 55 games, 41 as the starting power forward. Those numbers represented a substantial decline from his years with the Bucks, when he averaged double-doubles in points and rebounds in his second and fourth seasons and averaged 21.1 points and 9.8 rebounds in his third season.
Anderson, 31, played 241 games with the Celtics after being acquired from Toronto on Feb. 18, 1998. He averaged 9.6 points last season when he focused on passing to Paul Pierce and Walker.