Heading into this year’s playoffs, fans and media alike already were under the impression that the 2021 offseason had the potential to be quite busy for the Boston Celtics.
To many, the idea was that once the C’s season officially came to an end, the work that the front office was looking to do would start to commence after a short breathing period, as they had a tumultuous campaign and could use for a bit of a break.
Instead, what actually happened was within less than 24-hours after Boston was trounced in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets, General Manager and President of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge, opted to call it quits on his tenure with the franchise and Head Coach, Brad Stevens would go on to take on the latter role.
Now, an offseason that already had a ton of buzz attached to it looks to have added on even more attention, and we’re just over 48-hours removed from their final outing.
In his new role, Stevens certainly has his work cut out for him to try and turn around the fortunes for the Boston Celtics and, perhaps the first task on the offseason agenda is to try and shed some weight from their over-inflated cap situation or, in other words, try to find a taker for Kemba Walker and the remaining two-year, $73.7 million left on his contract.
Recently referred to as a “negative” trade asset, parting ways with the fallen star this summer will be a tremendously difficult task to accomplish that may have to involve some draft capital and/ or young prospects attached with him.
That said, while it may be a challenge, we at the Houdini don’t view said task as impossible. In fact, looking around the league, we believe there are 2 teams that could be willing to partake in a Kemba Walker trade:
Boston Celtics trade partner No. 1) Houston Rockets
Though the Boston Celtics may have had a disappointing 2020-21 campaign, it wasn’t nearly as poor as the one the Houston Rockets endured.
After eight straight years of playoff contention and being viewed as a legitimate title contender, Space City missed out on the postseason and, in the process, lost the faith of their franchise player, James Harden, who forced his way out of Texas to form a Big 3 in Brooklyn.
Once the former MVP left town, it was evident that this team was heading into a whole new direction in their franchise’s trajectory — a full-fledged rebuild.
In year one of such a phase, the Rockets managed to do things rather well, as every tanking team looks to vie for the top slot in the NBA Draft and, with their league-worst record of 17-55, they have a better chance than anyone come away with that highly coveted No. 1 pick.
Now, being that they’re still so far away from respectability, stockpiling draft capital and shedding dead weight on the roster should be their top priorities.
While bringing on the likes of Kemba Walker may appear to be going against task No. 2, they could actually look to swap him for some of their even less favorable contracts (Eric Gordon’s 3-year, $58.7M and John Wall‘s 2-years, $91.6M remaining) while also bringing on more picks and/ or some young players in the process.
Ugly situations are always hard to fix in the NBA and, while some Boston Celtics fans may not wish to bring on any more ugly contracts, it may be one of the only ways to part with Walker should they wish to do this.
With this, it actually brings us to the next franchise that could be interested in dealing for the point guard…
Boston Celtics trade partner No. 2) OKC Thunder
Like the Houston Rockets, the OKC Thunder are a team building for the future and, due to their 34 total picks through the year 2027, a large chunk of their work will be done by means of the NBA Draft.
Now, while one may be under the impression that General Manager Sam Presti may want to begin cashing in on some of these future assets, for there’s no feasible way he can actually keep all of them, there are some who believe that the front office should continue stockpiling draft capital and hold off on flipping such assets until a later day.
With this, should the Boston Celtics ultimately include a first-rounder to a deal involving Kemba Walker, Oklahoma City should be very interested in jumping into the mix.
Not only would they be able to add to their already illustrious treasure trove of assets, but they could also find themselves with another opportunity to try their luck with another injury-riddled/ rock bottom value faded All-Star point guard and, in turn, look to give him the CP3 treatment (i.e. flip him at a later date for more draft picks).
In the process, they could also ship off the remaining year of Al Horford‘s egregious contract to the Cs which, frankly, could be beneficial for both parties, as the Thunder have made it clear they wish to offload the veteran’s contract and Boston still desperately needs frontcourt help.
Being that they seemingly have no real desire to compete in the immediate future, coupled with the fact that they have the most cap flexibility in the entire league, OKC is in an optimal position where they can stand to take gambles like this.
So long as there’s draft capital coming their way, absorbing Walker’s deal may be in the realm of possibility this summer for the ball club.