Recent rumblings suggest the idea of the Boston Celtics trading away Kemba Walker before the end of his second-year is something the front office could certainly consider.
Though the Boston Celtics have not yet made any earth-shattering moves like some had expected coming into this offseason, there is still time for the front office to shake things up prior to the 2020-21 season should they want to do so.
While the team did manage to snag a couple of quality additions to the rotation — Tristan Thompson, Jeff Teague, Aaron Nesmith, etc. –, some may view the C’s current roster construction as “one-piece shy” from improving upon last season’s successes.
Perhaps the biggest concern for the franchise heading into this upcoming campaign is the health of franchise point guard, Kemba Walker who, according to multiple rumors, could find himself missing time in the beginning of the season due to his bothersome knees.
With these concerns, of course, has come the idea of the shamrocks trying to sell high on the All-Star before any hypothetical downfall in his status and long-term health occurs.
According to numerous credible reports, Danny Ainge fielded calls on draft night — most notably with the Chicago Bulls — in regard to potential deals involving the 30-year-old floor general.
While nothing wound up transpiring, this news does bring up the fact that the franchise could be enticed to trade away their top-billed free agency acquisition from just a season ago should the right package present itself.
Recently, NBAAnalysis.net published a piece discussing 3 Kemba Walker-based trades the Cs should “strongly consider.”
With this article, it created the urge for the Houdini to bring back one of our most popular series we like to call “Pass or Pursue” where we discuss whether or not the Celtics should sit out on rumored talks of acquisitions or if they should actively try to make them happen.
So, without further adieu, let’s get started:
Proposed trade idea No. 1) Cs get a legitimate, yet past-prime power forward
Over the past several weeks, one of the biggest wants to be voiced by Boston Celtics fans within the Twitterverse has been the idea of acquiring a legitimate power forward. While Jayson Tatum served as the team’s starting four throughout the 2019-20 campaign, many are under the impression that he would best be served at his more natural position, the three.
What’s important to keep in mind is that, not only could the team stand to benefit from a legitimate power forward but, also, one who could serve as a reliable floor spacer as well.
On paper, Kevin Love does fit this bill.
The 5x All-Star is coming off of a solid season with the rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers in which he posted 17.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on 45 percent shooting from the floor and 37 percent shooting from downtown.
Writer Brett Siegel seems to be under the impression that the addition of Love would only help the C’s offensive production.
"… if they can acquire Kevin Love to play the power-forward position and move Tatum back to where he is used to playing on the wing, it would open the Celtics offense tremendously instead of a lot of one-on-one play."
The rest of the deal involves 2018 lottery selected point guard Colin Sexton, a future first-round pick, and a second-round pick coming to the Boston Celtics along with Love in exchange for Walker, Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, and a future second-round.
"Collin Sexton and Kevin Love are two big time shooters and with Tatum and Brown taking on all the scoring pressure for the Celtics now, Sexton and Love can come in and give the Celtics two reliable shooting options. With Gordon Hayward gone, Boston’s best three-point shooters on the roster for this upcoming season are Tatum and Brown, the two guys who predominantly have the ball in their hands every position. By having guys like Collin Sexton and Kevin Love, the Celtics will be able to not only move the ball a lot easier on the perimeter, but their offense would not have to focus on the idea of, “who has not shot the ball in a while?” Last season, the Celtics offense ranked 9th in the NBA, but seemed to become stagnant in the fourth quarter of games. A lot of the struggles were because of the fact that Kemba, Brown and Tatum are so ball-dominant."
Truth be told, I actually am a big fan of the upside that Sexton possesses as a playmaker. I think he has the ability to be a fantastic starting point guard in this league, as he showcases a wide array of offensive skills that NBA floor generals highly covet.
That said, he is still a developmental prospect looking to find a consistent rhythm in this league.
The Celtics are a team looking to win now and have sustained success through the years to come and, while Love could be seen as a “win now” addition to this team, his albatross contract hinders the team’s chances of landing future free agents in the coming offseasons, similar to how they were strapped just this past season.
In our eyes, while Walker does bring questions in regard to his knee moving forward, this hypothetical return package would just be bringing on several more all while seeing the team downgrade at the game’s most important position.
While we do view both Love and Sexton as talented individuals, we believe there could likely be better packages for Boston to pursue that would push the needle farther in the right direction.
Verdict: Pass
Proposed trade idea No. 2) Cs get a legitimate power forward in his prime
The idea of acquiring Aaron Gordon has been one in the minds of us here at HH for quite some time now. Just recently, we published an article discussing why we believe Gordon to be a great target for the Boston Celtics using their newly acquired trade exception from the Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade.
"During the 2019-20 campaign, Gordon posted averages of 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 44 percent shooting from the floor. With him in tow, the Boston Celtics would have themselves a fantastic pick & roll player at the four who will draw a defense’s attention whenever he is in the vicinity of the rim, can sky-high for lob passes, and who has also improved upon his 3-point shot since entering the league. Frankly, with Aaron Gordon, this already impressive offense would simply just get even better."
Though we absolutely love Kemba Walker, should this proposed deal of acquiring the power forward, Terrence Ross, Al-Farouq Aminu, AND a 2023 first-round pick arise in reality, we would see this as an undeniable win for the Celtics.
According to the article, so too does Siegel.
"… acquiring Aaron Gordon allows Jayson Tatum to move back to the small-forward position where he is the most comfortable on the court, as well as a reliable rebounder who can give the Celtics numerous offensive rebound opportunities just from him alone. The Celtics have been one of the top rebounding teams over the years and adding another aggressive rebounder to this team could be the difference maker come playoff time. Terrance Ross and Al-Farouq Aminu give the Celtics two veterans who can come off the bench and not only be threats to score, but help the Celtics a lot defensively in the second-unit. Boston has struggled in the past when going to their bench and they have not had a lot of veteran depth over the years. Aminu did not play much last season due to injury, but he has always been known as a tough defender and aggressive rebounder in the paint."
In a nutshell, not only would the Boston Celtics be landing a total gem of a talent in Gordon, but they’d easily be improving upon their putrid scoring-punch off the pine with Ross and Aminu, as they ranked 29th in points per game (28.5), 28th in 3-point percentage (31.8), and 20th in offensive rating (53.6).
This would be a fantastic move for Danny Ainge to make and, should the opportunity arise, the team should definitely pounce on it.
Verdict: Pursue
Proposed trade idea No. 3) Kemba Walker heads home
Last and, frankly, least we have the proposed deal with the Knicks that sends Kemba Walker back to his home state of New York alongside Romeo Langford and a 2021 second-round pick in exchange for Julius Randle, Frank Ntilikina, Kevin Knox and two top-5 protected future first-round picks.
In the article, writer Brett Siegel went on to state that a move such as this could prove to be “quite useful” for the Boston Celtics during this upcoming season:
"Boston definitely needs help at the power-forward position and Randle is coming off a stellar season. He averaged 19.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season with the Knicks while shooting 46.0% from the floor. Having a reliable scoring option the Celtics could go to in the post is something they have not had over the years and could open up this offense."
The author would then go on to bring up how the addition of these first-round picks would give them a total of six over the next four years.
Gee, a bevy of draft capital with the hopes of the team trading them for an established star! Where have we seen this before…
Truth be told, the Houdini would be far more inclined if the picks were not top-5 protected — as we’re banking on the Knicks to, well, be the Knicks and have a legitimate shot at the No. 1 pick — but, even still, we don’t see this move as one to make if you’re Danny Ainge.
We’d rather take our chances with Walker and wait for him to recover rather than ship him (an All-NBA talent) and our 2019 lottery pick for a solid player in Randle, two role players, and the hope of swapping picks for a star in the years to come.