NBA Trade Rumors: Grades for Celtics, Thunder swapping Kemba Walker and Al Horford
The offseason is a busy time for teams to make trades, especially in the days on either side of the NBA Draft. The Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder decided that they didn’t want to wait that long, agreeing early in the offseason calendar to a trade centered on Kemba Walker and Al Horford.
The Boston Celtics recently reshuffled their organizational structure, with longtime President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge stepping away from the team, and former head coach Brad Stevens being elevated to replace him. As far as the basketball world knew, he was focused on hiring his own replacement as head coach.
Across the country, the Oklahoma City Thunder and general manager Sam Presti continue their asset churn, flipping players for worse contracts and picks, then rinsing and repeating. While the biggest moment of their offseason comes on Tuesday night at the NBA Draft Lottery, Presti did not rest on his laurels as he worked with his new counterpart in Stevens to work out a deal.
What were the details of the trade?
Around 9:00 am on the east coast Friday morning, the NBA world was bored. No major news had dropped in the 10 or so hours since the Milwaukee Bucks forced a Game 7 the night before. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski fixed that with his latest Woj Bomb:
The Celtics are trading Kemba Walker, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft and a 2025 second-round draft pick to Oklahoma City for Al Horford, Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 18, 2021
The Boston Celtics will move on from their All-Star point guard in Kemba Walker, in return welcoming back their former All-Star big man in Al Horford. They also are getting young center Moses Brown to provide frontcourt depth. The Thunder pick up a mid-first rounder for this year’s draft and a distant second, and will send the Celtics someone’s 2023 second.
Spotrac’s Twitter account helpfully highlights the salary differences involved in the deal:
Kemba Walker to OKC
— Spotrac (@spotrac) June 18, 2021
2021-22: $36M
2022-23: $37.6M player option
Al Horford to BOS
2021-22: $27M
2022-23: $26.5M (1/2 GTD)
Moses Brown to BOS
2 yrs, $3.5M non-g'teed https://t.co/28E9GkmNTF
There will be more information we gather about this deal, including whether the Celtics retain Brown or waive his salary, and what 2023 second-round pick is sent out. Given what we know now, how did the Celtics and Thunder make out in his surprise swapping of NBA veterans?