"It's business; I knew that coming into the league, I know it now,'' said Lynch, who signed with the Sixers as a free agent in January 1999. "I had asked if the Sixers could do something to restructure my contract. I played hurt, I made sacrifices for the betterment of the team.''

He asked for either a restructuring or a chance to go somewhere where that might be possible.

"That's what I meant when I said, 'They don't pay me enough to play small forward, much less power forward,' '' Lynch said. "Coach Brown and I agreed to play this year, then talk during the summer. Now, I've been traded. Cool.