In the midst of playoff fever, Brad Stevens, the new team president of the Boston Celtics, has initiated his first trade. Kemba Walker is shipped to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but Al Horford comes back to Boston. The trade is about much more than these two actors. What do the deals mean for the Celtics and the Thunder?
NBA: The Kemba trade from the Celtics perspective
Brad Stevens has been in office as the new President of Basketball Operations for the Celtics for just two weeks, and he is already responsible for the first trade hammer. The timing of the Kemba Walker trade came as a surprise, deals at such an early stage, even before the Draft Lottery and the Draft Combine, both of which will rise in the coming week, are unusual.
But instead of waiting for a draft and free agency, Stevens got on one of the most pressing questions of the Celtics offseason as quickly as possible. It was no secret that Boston wanted to ship Kemba. Stevens’ predecessor Danny Ainge had similar plans in the past offseason. The point guard got wind of it, was allegedly angry and wanted to leave too.
The trade to Oklahoma City is now ending the 31-year-old’s Celtics career much earlier than originally planned. He only came to Boston in 2019 to lead the traditional franchise to a championship together with the young core around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. As is well known, nothing came of this, among other things because stubborn knee problems kept Walker out of the game.
After missing a total of 35 games in his first eight NBA years in Charlotte, there have been 45 in the past two seasons in Boston. Backs spared and finally missed the last two playoff games of the Celts in the first round against Brooklyn (1-4) due to the injured left knee. And in the games in which he played, he could no longer match the level of previous years.