Sikma Traded to Bucks for Lister

Jack Sikma of the Seattle SuperSonics got his wish Tuesday when the team traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for center Alton Lister.

As part of the deal, the SuperSonics will also receive Milwaukee’s first-round choices in the 1987 and 1989 NBA draft, while the Bucks will get Seattle’s second-round draft picks in those two years.

The trade assures the SuperSonics of five first-round draft picks over the next three years, team president Bob Whitsitt said.

Whitsitt called the trade for the 7-foot, 240-pound Lister “the first move in rebuilding the team.”

The Bucks, who have not had an All-Star quality center since Bob Lanier retired in 1984, were 57-25 last year, while the Sonics had records of 31-51 the past two seasons.

Two months ago Sikma had asked to be traded, saying he wanted to play on a team with a chance to win an NBA championship. Whitsitt said the club was happy to accommodate Sikma and that the trade would put Seattle below the NBA’s salary cap, which would give the team more flexibility in making player trades.

Sikma, 30, a seven-time NBA All-Star, has four years left on a contract that SuperSonic spokesman Jim Rupp said was worth $1.6 million a year. Sikma was the last remaining member of Seattle’s 1978-79 championship team.

In his ninth season with Seattle, the 6-foot-11 inch, 250-pound Sikma averaged 17.1 points and had 748 rebounds in 80 games. Sikma, from Illinois Wesleyan, was Seattle’s first-round draft pick in 1977.

Lister, 27, was Milwaukee’s first-round pick in 1981 out of Arizona State. Last season, he averaged 9.8 points per game and had 592 rebounds in 81 games.