SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento's four-player trade with the Boston Celtics drew open criticism from Kings guard Harold Pressley, who said he was included in trade discussions but left out of the deal.
The Kings traded backup center Joe Kleine and power forward Ed Pinckney to Boston Thursday for guard Danny Ainge and 7-footer Brad Lohaus, a backup center who had displeased the Celtics by not becoming a physical force under the basket.
Kleine's departure leaves Sacramento without a proven center. Since moving to Sacramento from Kansas City, the Kings have operated for almost four seasons with LaSalle Thompson as the starter and Kleine as a backup. Thompson was traded to the Indiana Pacers earlier in the week for power forward Wayman Tisdale.
'It's a bad deal,' said Pressley, who said that he and Kleine were originally offered to the Boston for Ainge and Lohaus. He said Boston Celtics President Red Auerbach outsmarted the Kings by getting them to replace him with Pinckney.
Pressley said he now expected to get little playing time with the 30 year-old Ainge added to the to the Kings' roster of guards.
Kleine, who got the news of the trade while his wife was having a baby in a Sacramento hospital, said he was 'surprised.'
'You have to give them credit for having the guts to try something,' Kleine added.
The Kings have a 14-37 record this season. They face the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles Friday night, but don't expect to have Ainge and Lohaus available until they face the Seattle SuperSonics Monday.
Ainge, a key player on two Celtic teams that won NBA titles, said in Boston he 'will always be a Celtic at heart.
'We all knew the team was struggling and something had to happen,' he said. 'When it did, I just wasn't prepared for it.'
Ainge, who apparently had no warning of the trade, played with the Celtics against Sacramento Wednesday. In a television appearance after that game, he said that Boston was worried about not having a backup center.
Kings Coach Jerry Reynolds said he will make Jim Peterson his starting center for now. Peterson, acquired in a trade with Houston, has been used at both power forward and center.
Reynolds described Ainge as 'a legitimate all-star, atough athlete who can lead you someplace.
'Lohaus is a young, legitimate 7-footer with a lot of potential,' Reynolds added.
