SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento Kings, looking to strengthen their inside game, traded point guard Kenny Smith and forward Mike Williams to the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday in exchange for guard Sedric Toney, power forward Antoine Carr and a 1991 second-round draft choice.
Smith, who last weekend was runner-up to new teammate Dominique Wilkins in the Slam Dunk contest, is one of the bright young point guards in the game. But injuries to center Ralph Sampson and first-round draft pick Purvis Ellison forced the Kings to look to deal the youngster to beef up in the middle.
'We had a tough decision to make,' said Kings Coach Dick Motta. 'Kenny's a front-line player, he's been here three years and made a nice contribution to the Kings. We had to make a decision somewhere along the line to shore up a forward rotation which was lacking.
'We don't know the status of Pervis Ellison. Antoine Carr is definitely a good post-up player.'
Smith averaged 15 points and a team-high 6.6 assists a game in 46 contests with the Kings.
The Kings will replace Smith with former North Carolina State star Vinnie Del Negro and backups Harold Pressley and Toney.
'This is a big make-or-break period in Vinny's career and he'll have a chance to prove himself now,' Motta said.
Jerry Reynolds, who earlier this year stepped down as head coach to become head of player personnel, said the trade of Smith was made with an eye toward the NBA draft.
'We feel that there are more quality guards available in this draft than big people,' Reynolds said. 'If we were to be in the middle of the draft, we think we could get the help at the guard spot. There is no guarantee we could get the same kind of help on the front line.'
Reynolds was also high on Carr, who never has lived up to the potential projected of him when he came out of Wichita State. He was averaging 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds this season.
'If Antoine Carr was coming out of college now, he'd be a lottery pick,' Reynolds said. 'By getting him now, that solidifies our front court.'
Toney played in 32 games this season for the Hawks, averaging just 2.8 points and 1.6 assists.
Sacramento also got the highest of Atlanta's two second-round picks in the 1991 draft.
Besides Smith, the Hawks picked up Williams, signed earlier this season from the CBA's LaCross Catbirds.
