Boston Celtics: Could rival Knicks be a Kemba Walker destination?

I’ve never been a huge advocate of Boston Celtics fan-proposed trades, just because It’s very rare that these trades actually happen. I also think there can be large gaps between how fans value a player versus how NBA front offices value a player.

I also never know what to do with picks. Some people inherently think picks = automatic future talent, but organizations have to be smart enough to not miss, which is difficult.

What’s also important to remember is that all sides in a trade have to agree for it to get pushed through and completed.

With that being said, in light of the recent news about Boston Celtics starting point guard Kemba Walker being put on the market this offseason, I think one potential destination that isn’t being brought up enough is division rival, the New York Knicks.

The Knicks are in an interesting spot for once after having a wildly above expectations season in which they lost in the first round of the playoffs as the four seed.

They will also have an interesting offseason for once as well due to New York currently having only $55 million guaranteed on the team payroll for next season.

Their only rotational players already under contract include Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, and Kevin Knox, with rookies Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin as well.

The clear takeaway from the Knicks’ postseason battle with the Atlanta Hawks was that New York needs more scorers.

Derrick Rose is a great player and his turnaround from multiple knee surgeries to still being a quality playoff performer is inspiring. But your favorite team isn’t making it far in the postseason with him averaging the most points in the lineup at 19.4 a game.

Randle’s shooting struggles were predictable. He’s a good scorer but not a great one, especially when you have elite rim protection via Clint Capela on the opposing side.

Barrett was a 20-year-old in his first playoff series so expectations weren’t sky high there.

New York’s only other player to average more than 10 points per game in the series was Alec Burks, another good scorer but not someone that can be relied upon game to game.

And this is exactly where Kemba Walker would fit in.

Not only would he immediately fill their hole at the starting point guard position, but Walker is a proven scorer.

He had been a 20 point-per-game scorer for the previous five seasons prior to averaging 19.3 points per game for the Boston Celtics in 2020-21.

Walker has also proven to be able to score the ball when not a number one or two option, meaning New York can continue to progress their young talents like Randle and Barrett to be lead guys, similar to how the Cs operated with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown this past season.

The downsides of Walker would carry over though from Boston to New York.

He turned 31 in May and has been dealing with recurring knee injuries for the past couple of seasons.

During his two seasons in Beantown, Walker has logged his worst and second-worst seasons in terms of games played with 56 and 43, respectively.

Overall, it was disappointing to watch the Celtics rest him on back-to-backs just to see the injury resurface in the playoffs, and this definitely did not do anything to improve Walker’s outlook to the rest of the league.

But, if you’re the Knicks and you don’t do so well in free agency this offseason, Walker may just be interesting enough to take the cap hit for the next two years and see what he can do to further make their team better, especially if the Celtics are more desperate to part with Walker than they are currently letting on because that could mean the Knicks get him at more of a discount.

For Boston, to me, both Tatum and Brown are untouchable (and Marcus Smart is as close as you can get).

Walker is the odd man out.

With the groundbreaking news of Danny Ainge resigning and Brad Stevens moving to the front office, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Boston Celtics make another sizeable move or two.

With both Kemba Walker’s fit on the team and contract not quite gelling with the current lineup, it’d be in the C’s best interest to try and get something in return for Walker while also having the ability to create cap space for free agency.

New York may just be the right spot.

Even if they don’t have the most valuable assets to give up for Walker, both the Knicks and Celtics may find themselves in a tough place this offseason that could lead to a trade between the two.