Boston Celtics: 3 mutually beneficial Kemba Walker trades
By Seth Quinn
Why the Boston Celtics do this deal:
While the Boston Celtics would be getting rid of Kemba’s not-great contract in this trade, they’d be getting one back in return in Al Horford, which sounds counter-intuitive on the surface.
However, Al Horford would be a better fit with the current Celtics roster and would provide a skillset at the center spot and at times the power forward position that the Celtics haven’t really had since, well… Al Horford himself.
Looking at the current center rotation for the Celtics, they have Tristan Thompson and Rob Williams, who are both solid options.
However, when the Celtics have wanted to play smaller, they’ve been forced to turn to Grant Williams often at center to the dismay of many Celtic fans, or even Jayson Tatum at center…with neither being a recipe for success long term.
Getting a versatile guy like Horford who mainly at the center position, even at the age of 35, can still provide solid outside shooting, inside and perimeter defense, and rebounding, would be a huge boost to the rotation.
While he definitely isn’t the same player as his previous stint with the Celtics, he can still give solid production in areas this current C’s roster desperately needs.
Giving up this year’s first round pick in a deep draft class hurts, but if the C’s truly want to go all-in to win a championship within the next few seasons, draft picks really don’t mean all that much, especially if two years of Al Horford is viewed as significantly better than 2 more years of Kemba Walker given their contracts and skillsets.
Why the Oklahoma City Thunder do this deal:
Given the OKC Thunder are rebuilding and were perfectly fine with Al Horford sitting out last season in order to tank for a better pick, there is really no reason for them to help out the Celtics with a straight swap of Kemba for Horford.
That is why the Celtics including a 1st round pick along with Kemba is probably the minimum requirement for them to be willing to do a deal like this.
The pick is set in stone at number 16 in this year’s deep draft class, making it the icing on the cake.
Looking at the current lottery odds, the Thunder could possibly have two picks in the top five as a best-case scenario.
However, if they are unlucky, they could also have no picks in the top five.
If the lottery doesn’t work out the way the Thunder hope it does, another pick in this year’s draft would be very beneficial, and could even be packaged with another one of their first-round picks to move up and ensure they get a player they want.
That added insurance is most definitely worth it if all they have to give up is a player who only played in 28 out of 72 games last season, which mostly wasn’t due to injury.
Given Thunder general manager Sam Presti loves stockpiling draft picks, the Thunder and Horford have already mutually agreed to try to orchestrate a trade this offseason, and the Celtics would love a Horford reunion, this trade makes a lot of sense for both sides.