Boston Celtics: B/R reports Kemba Walker ‘was hurt’ by Jrue Holiday rumors

While this short report posted by Bleacher Report caught me off guard, it’s not for the reason you may think it is. For starters, this should officially end the awkward silence between the Kemba Walker camp and the Boston Celtics front office. A trade should happen at some point this offseason, it’s just a matter of with who.

According to the report, it was a mutual agreement as Boston is mid-shake-up and Walker understands that he will be a part of said continuing shake-up. But, the report also gives potential confirmation via “sources close to the Boston Celtics” that Walker was offered to New Orleans this past offseason for then Pelican, Jrue Holiday.

The report continues via a “source close to Walker” that the point guard was hurt by Boston’s efforts to trade him, creating a rift between Walker and then GM Danny Ainge.

Now, unless I blatantly missed an earlier report, this is the first time we have heard of specific details involving what happened with the potential trades of the last offseason. But I also wonder how much this rift could have played a role in Ainge leaving the team. Having a player like Walker that no longer feels wanted by a front office is a sure championship killer.

And from watching the games, I don’t think Kemba had any issues with players and coaches. It was strictly him against the front office.

Now, another question you can ask yourself is which camp pushed out this story? Walker or Boston?

I think this one gets answered throughout the report.

First of all, the whole situation with Anthony Davis’ dad saying how he didn’t want his son playing for Boston was brought up. This story exemplified how many other players in the league didn’t trust the Ainge era of Boston management.

Second of all, when quoting a recent Jared Weiss article, the report let said quote get very long as it not only mentioned that the league currently views Walker as a negative trade asset but that Walker is “universally admired for his relentlessly positive attitude and hard work through injury”.

And the rest of the report pretty much lists likely landing spots for Walker this offseason including New York and Dallas (with a Walker-Porzingis swap mentioned as well, disgusting!).

Now, when it comes to a final verdict, neither side is in the wrong per se.

The Boston front office wants to move on and try something new centered around both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. And they have every right to. Kemba Walker seemed to really enjoy his two years in Boston and, even with the ups and downs, has every right to be upset about rumors that he may be forced out of a place he’s happy at.

Now that it seems confirmed that Walker will be leaving Boston, I am intrigued to see where he ends up and what the Cs get back for the veteran point guard.

But I also think there will be multiple times next season where Boston Celtics fans will miss the skills that Walker brought to the table during his short tenure in Boston as a reliable, when healthy, third scoring option.