A Kemba Walker trade seemed inevitable this year. It started before last season, when the Celtics were reportedly attempting to trade him ahead of the draft and word got around to Walker.
There were no takers at the time for a player who had just been an All-Star starter months earlier, so the Celtics waited in hopes a prolonged rehab program would build him up to form. After a season sitting out back-to-backs, Walker started to look like himself again before he injured his knee in the Nets series and it was suddenly over.
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In the end, the Celtics still needed to attach the 16th-overall pick in next month’s draft to move him, sending Walker to Oklahoma City for Al Horford and Moses Brown in addition to an exchange of second-round picks. It’s the second consecutive draft the Celtics have dispatched a first-round pick to unburden a salary, following the Enes Kanter trade which sent All-Rookie team member Desmond Bane to Memphis. A rare significant trade made before the draft combine, before the lottery, before Brad Stevens hiring his replacement as coach.
While Walker’s struggles might have made him seem like a disappointment relative to his role and salary, he was still good last season. He is well-liked, known for his geniality and positivity. According to multiple team sources, there was some dysfunction in the locker room, with the relationship between Stevens and Walker characterized as tension-filled. Sources also suggest that Stevens was also perceived to be harder on Walker than on other top players.
This came in the wake of Gordon Hayward’s departure, after which sources said Hayward told Stevens he needed to establish a stronger voice with players if they were going to win.
Several team sources felt Stevens was more aggressive with certain players this season, which included Walker who was criticized for his defensive mistakes. Those sources said Walker and Stevens began to butt heads, though the pair were considered to have a productive working relationship and mutual respect for one another.
Walker maintained his professionalism throughout the season but his health issues, the team’s poor performance and boos from TD Garden fans — something that particularly “pissed him off,” according to multiple sources — made him sour on his situation in Boston and had spoken privately about being willing to move to a new team. It had become clear he was not going to be in the team’s long-term plans.
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The question now is how these moves will impact Boston’s franchise players. Jayson Tatum has already seen close friend Javonte Green move to Chicago at the deadline, and now loses another locker room friend in Walker. Horford’s arrival opens the door for the team to possibly move on from Tristan Thompson, another close teammate for Tatum.
It raises another question of what this means for Marcus Smart, currently the team’s starting point guard. He and Horford built a culture of defensive accountability that held up in 2020 before falling apart in 2021. Team sources suggest Smart was alone in trying to establish that accountability last season, with teammates often tuning him out. It reached a boiling point when he and Jaylen Brown were involved in a heated confrontation after Game 2 of the 2020 Eastern Conference finals as reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Smart has long been a favorite of both Stevens and predecessor Danny Ainge, even as Ainge was reportedly exploring trades for Smart. Despite the continuity in leadership, several team sources suggest the Celtics’ culture of competition is eroding — with more than one source pointing to the players’ perceived indifference toward Kyrie Irving stomping on the Celtics logo after the final home game of the season as a red flag they did not exhibit the same sense of pride in the organization that has been the Celtics’ calling card in years past.
According to a source, Brooklyn’s Blake Griffin asked a Celtics player if he should join the team midseason and was told not to come to Boston because of the apparent dysfunction.
At season’s end, multiple sources close to the players said several members of the locker room were welcoming a coaching change, noting Stevens did not appear to hold key players accountable, with complaints he was favoring Smart over others. The common refrain was that the team should hire a person of color with NBA playing experience to coach, something Stevens seems to be addressing with Chauncey Billups, Ime Udoka and Darvin Ham getting second interviews, as first reported by ESPN.
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It’s unclear if and how a new coach would empower Smart. With Horford back, there at least are two voices with experienced postseason leadership, with Horford happy to be the calm presence while Smart continues to be a firebrand. Though Walker was revered by his teammates, his ability to effect change with his voice was naturally undercut by his struggles to match it on the floor.
The Walker trade can be seen as part of a multi-step process to keep Evan Fournier and Robert Williams. Swapping Walker for Horford gets the team far enough below the tax line now that re-signing Fournier to somewhere in the teens annually will only push them to the first or second tier of the progressive luxury tax. It allows the team to keep building while creating a marginal tax bill ownership can live with for a likely non-contender. It also makes it easier to open up a max salary slot in free agency in 2022, as Horford’s deal is only 50 percent guaranteed at $14 million next season. It also provides space below the tax if they work out deals with Rob Williams and Smart as well.
Presuming the roster stays relatively similar and the Celtics use the tax mid-level exception to bring in another rotation player, Smart will likely start at point guard. Then Brown and Tatum at the wings, Fournier and Horford likely taking turns as starters based on matchup, and Williams starting at the five. It’s quite possible Williams will need more load management this year and Horford will spend time as the starting center as well. Smart at the one has become increasingly plausible with Tatum and Brown’s playmaking development, especially now that Horford is back to run a lot of the effective offensive scheme the Celtics had with him in his first stint.
The team struggled with Theis and Thompson in a double big lineup last year, but Horford and Williams are far more dynamic scorers and passers and could pair nicely if Horford is still shooting decently. According to sources, several players expressed frustration with Stevens’ “college offense” and how the team’s best players would often get stuck in isolation.
When Walker was on, he gave Boston an extra offensive dimension that allowed Tatum and Brown the freedom to attack with space. Regardless of whether Walker gets back to that point, it’s time for the Celtics to move on and enhance the depth around its two stars.
But the Celtics have more issues to solve than just putting the right pieces around their best players. They need to rebuild a culture that will keep their players excited to be a part of the Celtics.
Related Reading
Trade grades: Zach Harper’s instant reaction on the deal for both sides
King: Kemba Walker’s out and Brad Stevens has a lot of work left to do
Hollinger: Brad Stevens’ first deal opens question of what’s next
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(Photo: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
