Boston Celtics: 3 best moves of the offseason so far
Boston Celtics third best move: Trading Kemba Walker
It’s a true shame Kemba Walker’s time with the Boston Celtics didn’t go as well as planned. He tried his best, but it just never worked out, especially after he suffered a knee injury two seasons ago that continued to plague him right until the end of his tenure in Boston. It was clear that Boston needed to move on from Walker this offseason.
It was no surprise then that shortly after Brad Stevens was announced as the Celtics new President of Basketball Operations he shipped Kemba Walker off to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The deal itself wasn’t really great for Boston; they had to send their first round pick along with Walker to Oklahoma in return for Al Horford, Moses Brown (who was traded shortly after), and a 2023 second round pick.
It’s not the prettiest deal, but it was necessary for Boston to be able to move forward and build their next title contender. The Celtics were paying Walker like an All-Star; the problem was he wasn’t on the court half the time, and when he was, he wasn’t playing up to his normal standard. It became very clear that Walker’s knee injury had a detrimental affect on his abilities last season.
Related Story. This Damian Lillard blockbuster trade would rock the NBA. light
That’s why Boston had to move on from him. They freed up tons of cap space when they shipped off Walker, and immediately put some of it to use this offseason to rebuild their depth. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and move, and that’s exactly what Boston did with this deal.
An added bit of consolation was the addition of old friend Al Horford. Horford already has experience in the Celtics system, and gives Boston a floor-spacing big they haven’t had since he left for the Philadelphia 76ers a few seasons back. Brown was also part of the deal that landed Josh Richardson from the Dallas Mavericks, so it wasn’t all bad here.
It became clear towards the end of last season that Walker simply wasn’t a part of the Celtics future. It stinks that it didn’t work out, and the deal required Boston giving up more than they received. But it was a necessary move that needed to be made, and it made the Celtics better off for the future as a result.