Kemba Walker already proving to be a free agency draw for the Boston Celtics

For the Boston Celtics, having Kemba Walker in tow for the next four years not only gives them an All-NBA talent at the point guard position but, also, gives them more market appeal to prospective free agents… at least that’s what Al Horford’s recent comments seem to reveal.

The ears of Boston Celtics fans must have perked up like a prairie dog when new Philadelphia 76ers big-man Al Horford sung the praises of brand new franchise point guard, Kemba Walker. In an interview with Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, Horford brushed up on the disappointment that was last year’s Celtics and talked about how he believed his best chance to win moving forward was not with the same group that ended in ‘gentlemen’s sweep’ fashion to the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semi-finals.

"“There would have had to be some major changes as far as players, because it was just clear that the group that we had just wasn’t going to be able to coexist.”"

Prior to the “official” start of the 2019 NBA offseason, Horford saw the writing on the wall in regard to the franchise’s trajectory moving forward. It was the worst kept secret that All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving was on his way out of Beantown, thus leaving a major hole at arguably the game’s most important position. The player who was seen as the potential “heir-apparent” to the one-guard spot, Terry Rozier, all but put his own name on the trading block after he publicly badmouthed the current state of the franchise this past offseason and even went as far as to say he might “have to go” if things didn’t drastically change.

With all these question marks surrounding the organization, Horford inevitably decided to opt-out of his $30 million player option and test the waters of free agency. As we have come to know, this decision by the 33-year-old big-man ultimately led him to signing an incentive-laden $109 million contract ($97 million guaranteed) with the divisional rival 76ers.

However, perhaps things may have turned out differently had Kemba Walker’s defection to the Boston Celtics been as obviously forecasted as Irving’s was to Brooklyn. Horford’s comments seem to reveal a hint of regret for not seeing how the process fully turned out…and not knowing Walker was a potential teammate.

"“I don’t want to get caught up in the past,” he said when asked if he would have considered staying if he knew Walker was coming “but, yeah, that would have been totally different.”"

At the time of Horford’s decision to reject his player option on the final year of his contract, Walker was not really mentioned in the same breath as the Celtics. Prior to free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks were the teams he was most notably linked to and, specifically with Dallas, Walker was seen as their top free-agent target. It was only in the week preceding the start of free agency that Walker and Boston seemed to be more of a realistic possibility.

But bygones are bygones and Al Horford will be debuting against his old team in a week and a half when the 76ers host the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philly. Walker will be donning green and white and Horford wearing red, white, and blue. If the veteran big would have known about Walker’s future with Boston, it’s quite a realistic possibility that both would be sporting the same colors.

Perhaps in the not-so-distant future, other free agents will join the winning tradition by following Walker’s footsteps.