TRADE CHATTER 2/22

by **112288** Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:45 am

Celtics, Rockets deal for Battier not happening

By A. Sherrod Blakely
CSNNE.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Did you feel that chill?

That would be the annual trade winds that sweep across the NBA landscape this time of year as teams inch closer to the trading deadline.

And once again, the Boston Celtics are among the teams looking to make a deal prior to Thursday's deadline.

With Marquis Daniels (bruised spinal cord) looking more and more like he'll be lost for the rest of the season, the Celtics are looking long and hard for a backup small forward to Paul Pierce.

One of the players Boston is reportedly pursuing is Houston's Shane Battier.

It makes sense for the Celtics to inquire about Battier, who is in the final year of a contract that pays him $7.35 million this season.

However, a league source confirmed to CSNNE.com Monday night that a deal involving Battier coming to Boston will not happen.

Far too often, trade rumors tend to omit two necessary factors that are in always in play with trades.

The team initiating the trade has to 1) see a player they want to acquire, and 2) put together a package that's enticing enough to the other team.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers acknowledged what we all have known for weeks.

The C's don't have a lot of trade chips to play, and thus find themselves struggling to gain much trade traction.

"Obviously, we're out there looking," Rivers said. "We're not going to just go and do something, to do something. We're clearly looking. We don't have a lot of assets to move. We'll see what happens."

The biggest fear for the C's right now is that they're unable to make a trade, and Daniels isn't able to return.

"That would be tough, because of our size," Rivers said. "We would have a huge gap at the 3-spot. When you look at who we'd have to go through, Luol Dengs, LeBrons, Kobes . . . that would make it tough."

It puts even more pressure on Paul Pierce to not only produce, but do so while staying healthy and relatively free of foul trouble.

"I'm not going to do nothing different," Pierce said. "I can't even think about that. We got guys who are going to have to fill in that role. Von Wafer, Delonte West. The guys we got have to fill in that role. I can't change the way I play."

112288