Kemp Is Key Player in Three-Way Trade

Shawn Kemp’s trade demand was fulfilled Thursday night when the Seattle SuperSonics made a three-way trade with Milwaukee and Cleveland, sending Kemp to the Cavaliers in a swap also involving all-stars Vin Baker and Terrell Brandon.

The SuperSonics will receive Baker from Milwaukee; the Bucks will get Brandon and Tyrone Hill; the Cavaliers will get Kemp from Seattle and Sherman Douglas from Milwaukee. A sum of money also will be included in the deal, although it was not immediately clear who would receive it from whom.

A trade of Kemp had been expected since the disgruntled forward declared last May that he had worn a SuperSonics 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 SuperSonics, 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.

“Shawn was a great all-star and really the cornerstone of this franchise for a long time,” Seattle General Manager Wally Walker said. “None of us should forget that. Despite what’s gone on recently, we all have a soft spot in our heart for Shawn.”

A straight-up Baker-for-Kemp deal had been rumored, and Walker said last week during the league meetings that he preferred to send Kemp to an Eastern Conference team.

In dealing Baker, it seems the Bucks decided that their best player would exercise an out clause in his contract and become a free agent in 1999.

And in Cleveland, it was known that both Brandon and Hill were unhappy. Brandon can become a free agent in two years, Hill in one.

The trade sends Kemp to one of the few teams with enough salary cap room to rip up his contract and give him a new deal. The Cavaliers, who were spurned by every free agent they approached this summer, have about $9.5 million in salary cap room.

“We heard of the problems he had in Seattle, but we don’t think it’s a problem as far as we are concerned,” Cavalier General Manager Wayne Embry said.

Asked if the Cavaliers would immediately re-do Kemp’s contact, Embry indicated they would.

“I do expect that his agent will be calling and I do expect we will respond to his call,” Embry said.

Cleveland and Coach Mike Fratello will now have an entirely new starting five. Gone from the slow-down crew that averaged only 87.5 points per game--one-tenth of a point shy of the NBA record held by the 1954-55 Milwaukee Hawks--are Brandon, Hill, Mark West, Chris Mills and Bobby Phills.

In Kemp, the Cavaliers get a marquee attraction who will be expected to inject some excitement into the league’s dullest team. The five-time all-star had his best year in 1995-96, when the SuperSonics went to the NBA finals, as he averaged 19.6 points and 11.4 rebounds for a team that won 64 regular-season games.

Kemp slumped to averages of 18.7 and 10.0 last season, and his constant sullen behavior and habitual lateness became a problem while the SuperSonics were on the way to being eliminated by the Houston Rockets in the playoffs.

Neither Kemp nor his agent, Tony Dutt, could be reached for comment.

Walker stated that he wouldn’t trade Kemp unless he got an all-star in return, and he got his wish by acquiring Baker.

The four-year veteran and three-time all-star in one of the league’s best low post players, a 6-foot-11 power forward whose averages of 21.0 points and 10.3 rebounds were an almost identical match to his numbers from the previous season. Last week, Baker, 25, was selected--along with Brandon--for the 1998 U.S. World Championship Team.

Trading Places

TO SEATTLE

* Vin Baker, F, from Milwaukee

TO CLEVELAND

* Shawn Kemp, F, from Seattle

* S. Douglas, G, from Milwaukee

TO MILWAUKEE

* Terrell Brandon, G, and

* Tyrone Hill, F, from Cleveland