Sources: Cs/Kemba want a breakup (other sources contradict)

[jambr380]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

[td450]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

[jambr380]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I get it, he gets paid a little too much and he was load managed coming back from an injury in a condensed season. But he is supposed to play in b2bs moving forward and will finally get a full offseason of rest. People are desperate to get him off the team, but I am not sure what the end goal is here. The trade options that are being thrown around by and large make us a worse team - why do we want to be worse? Like, people talk about the Clippers being a good fit for Kemba, but they are built around two all-star wings, just like we are. Why would they want him and not us?

[td450]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I get it, he gets paid a little too much and he was load managed coming back from an injury in a condensed season. But he is supposed to play in b2bs moving forward and will finally get a full offseason of rest. People are desperate to get him off the team, but I am not sure what the end goal is here. The trade options that are being thrown around by and large make us a worse team - why do we want to be worse? Like, people talk about the Clippers being a good fit for Kemba, but they are built around two all-star wings, just like we are. Why would they want him and not us?

He's a bad fit because we have two stars who can do certain things very very well, and we need to surround them with complimentary skills. We lack passing and ball movement, and we lack tough minded decision making under pressure. We had Horford and Hayward to help considerably with these things, but they are gone. Kemba is not a clever decision maker at the end of games, and he pairs very poorly with Marcus Smart. The team needs to fix this to get better.

[Goldstar88]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I get it, he gets paid a little too much and he was load managed coming back from an injury in a condensed season. But he is supposed to play in b2bs moving forward and will finally get a full offseason of rest. People are desperate to get him off the team, but I am not sure what the end goal is here. The trade options that are being thrown around by and large make us a worse team - why do we want to be worse? Like, people talk about the Clippers being a good fit for Kemba, but they are built around two all-star wings, just like we are. Why would they want him and not us?

Like the previous poster stated, Kemba’s offensive skillset at this point doesn’t make up for his defensive deficiencies and its not like he does anything else particularly well. He’s basically a Lou Williams type player being paid $36m+/year. The Celtics defense is completely compromised if the opposition has larger guards. Teams like Miami and Milwaukee will create switches on Kemba which allow them to score at will or force the C’s to double team, leaving a player wide open for a 3. It’s a simple strategy, but extremely effective in exposing the C’s defense while Walker is on the court.

I believe the C’s would be better off with a starting lineup of Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Timelord. Plus, Al makes nearly $10m less per year, which would allow the C’s to use salary on another player(s) that could help the team.

[td450]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I get it, he gets paid a little too much and he was load managed coming back from an injury in a condensed season. But he is supposed to play in b2bs moving forward and will finally get a full offseason of rest. People are desperate to get him off the team, but I am not sure what the end goal is here. The trade options that are being thrown around by and large make us a worse team - why do we want to be worse? Like, people talk about the Clippers being a good fit for Kemba, but they are built around two all-star wings, just like we are. Why would they want him and not us?

Like the previous poster stated, Kemba’s offensive skillset at this point doesn’t make up for his defensive deficiencies and its not like he does anything else particularly well. He’s basically a Lou Williams type player being paid $36m+/year. The Celtics defense is completely compromised if the opposition has larger guards. Teams like Miami and Milwaukee will create switches on Kemba which allow them to score at will or force the C’s to double team, leaving a player wide open for a 3. It’s a simple strategy, but extremely effective in exposing the C’s defense while Walker is on the court.

I believe the C’s would be better off with a starting lineup of Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Timelord. Plus, Al makes nearly $10m less per year, which would allow the C’s to use salary on another player(s) that could help the team.

Those things are true, but they were true before, when the team performed better. What is different now is we haven't got any other complementary players to make up for the lack of decision making and playmaking. It isn't Kemba's fault, per se, but this is Tatum and Brown's team. You have to fill in around them. He really isn't helping.

Kemba isn't a traditional point guard and requires others to fill in those gaps. We just don't have anyone to do that any more.

[Goldstar88]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I get it, he gets paid a little too much and he was load managed coming back from an injury in a condensed season. But he is supposed to play in b2bs moving forward and will finally get a full offseason of rest. People are desperate to get him off the team, but I am not sure what the end goal is here. The trade options that are being thrown around by and large make us a worse team - why do we want to be worse? Like, people talk about the Clippers being a good fit for Kemba, but they are built around two all-star wings, just like we are. Why would they want him and not us?

Like the previous poster stated, Kemba’s offensive skillset at this point doesn’t make up for his defensive deficiencies and its not like he does anything else particularly well. He’s basically a Lou Williams type player being paid $36m+/year. The Celtics defense is completely compromised if the opposition has larger guards. Teams like Miami and Milwaukee will create switches on Kemba which allow them to score at will or force the C’s to double team, leaving a player wide open for a 3. It’s a simple strategy, but extremely effective in exposing the C’s defense while Walker is on the court.

I believe the C’s would be better off with a starting lineup of Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Timelord. Plus, Al makes nearly $10m less per year, which would allow the C’s to use salary on another player(s) that could help the team.

Those things are true, but they were true before, when the team performed better. What is different now is we haven't got any other complementary players to make up for the lack of decision making and playmaking. It isn't Kemba's fault, per se, but this is Tatum and Brown's team. You have to fill in around them. He really isn't helping.

Kemba isn't a traditional point guard and requires others to fill in those gaps. We just don't have anyone to do that any more.

Bottom line...If Kemba is supposed to be the 3rd star on this team and he’s taking up $36m in salary, the Celtics are not going to be winning anything. Sure, the C’s can add some complimentary pieces, get healthy and then maybe compete for the 4/5 seed. I’d rather try something else at this point, wouldn’t you?

[Celtics4ever]

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I think if you have watched us the last five or so years and I assume you have that you would observe small guards gets owned the playoffs.   They get injured more IT and Kyrie and are not as effective as bigger guard when teams start playing playoff basketball.   Look at Payton Pritchard very nice during the regular season but did a vanishing act in the playoffs.  It is harder to get your shot off.   IT4 was great but brokedown  due to being small.  PP struggles to get his shot off.  Kemba did not do as well in the playoffs.  Small guards can really come back to bite you in the playoffs.  Kemba was 3-17 against the nets from downtown.  I know he had injury issues.   PP was 3 for 10.

I think we all hoped Kemba would plan out.   I was one for keeping Terry and I did not think Kemba was a leader when brought here.   I was half wrong on that he is a good citizen and brings a lot of positive culture.   But he is not a very good leader in terms of pushing through adversity.   I also think he did not show a lot of toughness down the stretch and his not playing the closeout games lowered my opinion of him even worse.  I can't wait for us to get rid of him now if he asked for a trade.   We do not know that this is 100% true, right? 

[MaxAMillion]

I believe Kemba is finished...at least as a player who can stay healthy. I suspect he will be in and out of the lineup for the rest of his career due to injury.

[td450]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I get it, he gets paid a little too much and he was load managed coming back from an injury in a condensed season. But he is supposed to play in b2bs moving forward and will finally get a full offseason of rest. People are desperate to get him off the team, but I am not sure what the end goal is here. The trade options that are being thrown around by and large make us a worse team - why do we want to be worse? Like, people talk about the Clippers being a good fit for Kemba, but they are built around two all-star wings, just like we are. Why would they want him and not us?

Like the previous poster stated, Kemba’s offensive skillset at this point doesn’t make up for his defensive deficiencies and its not like he does anything else particularly well. He’s basically a Lou Williams type player being paid $36m+/year. The Celtics defense is completely compromised if the opposition has larger guards. Teams like Miami and Milwaukee will create switches on Kemba which allow them to score at will or force the C’s to double team, leaving a player wide open for a 3. It’s a simple strategy, but extremely effective in exposing the C’s defense while Walker is on the court.

I believe the C’s would be better off with a starting lineup of Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Timelord. Plus, Al makes nearly $10m less per year, which would allow the C’s to use salary on another player(s) that could help the team.

Those things are true, but they were true before, when the team performed better. What is different now is we haven't got any other complementary players to make up for the lack of decision making and playmaking. It isn't Kemba's fault, per se, but this is Tatum and Brown's team. You have to fill in around them. He really isn't helping.

Kemba isn't a traditional point guard and requires others to fill in those gaps. We just don't have anyone to do that any more.

Bottom line...If Kemba is supposed to be the 3rd star on this team and he’s taking up $36m in salary, the Celtics are not going to be winning anything. Sure, the C’s can add some complimentary pieces, get healthy and then maybe compete for the 4/5 seed. I’d rather try something else at this point, wouldn’t you?

I think we could be the #2 seed if we got healthy and were able to add two complementary pieces. I think Philly, Milwaukee and Atlanta are all flawed. Brooklyn will be tough as long as Durant remains the league's most deadly player, but he's aging and if he's not 100% I think we can get to the point where we could beat them.

Could this happen with Kemba? Maybe, but not if we depend on him or Smart to make plays at the end of playoff games. I'm fine with trading him, but I'd like to know what's on the table.

[BoulderMike]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I get it, he gets paid a little too much and he was load managed coming back from an injury in a condensed season. But he is supposed to play in b2bs moving forward and will finally get a full offseason of rest. People are desperate to get him off the team, but I am not sure what the end goal is here. The trade options that are being thrown around by and large make us a worse team - why do we want to be worse? Like, people talk about the Clippers being a good fit for Kemba, but they are built around two all-star wings, just like we are. Why would they want him and not us?

Like the previous poster stated, Kemba’s offensive skillset at this point doesn’t make up for his defensive deficiencies and its not like he does anything else particularly well. He’s basically a Lou Williams type player being paid $36m+/year. The Celtics defense is completely compromised if the opposition has larger guards. Teams like Miami and Milwaukee will create switches on Kemba which allow them to score at will or force the C’s to double team, leaving a player wide open for a 3. It’s a simple strategy, but extremely effective in exposing the C’s defense while Walker is on the court.

I believe the C’s would be better off with a starting lineup of Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Timelord. Plus, Al makes nearly $10m less per year, which would allow the C’s to use salary on another player(s) that could help the team.

I love Kemba, but he is a $10 - $15 M off-the-bench guy.  Nothing short of amazing ... unless you are paying $35 M for the privilege.  Trade him for Horford or cut him ... but NEVER hate or disrespect him. But for those of you who think you can carry a player overpaid by $20-25 M, please see Blake Griffin or Andre Drummond. GREAT players, just overpaid.

[Rondo9]

What's people's obession of making Kemba a Sixth man? You realize he can put up borderline all-star numbers when healthy right?

[BoulderMike]

unfortunately, not any more

[Rondo9]

unfortunately, not any more

Because you say so?

[gouki88]

If the Kemba for Aldridge rumor is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't), then the Spurs could have had Kemba and his salary for essentially nothing (since they bought out Aldridge at this full salary anyway) and they still said no.  Pops has great respect for Kemba .... and he still said no.

That says a lot about Kemba's value.

Kemba's value last offseason had to be million times worse than this offseason. He still had 3 years left on his contract and he was having stem cell injections to see if he could really ever effectively play again. Now we know that he was able to get through a season putting up his career averages (and only improving towards the end of the season) w/o any setbacks on that knee. And he only has two seasons left on his contract.

And contrary to what shaqattack said above me, Kemba's demise is seemingly greatly exaggerated. We have no reason to believe that Kemba can't be a very productive player - at least through the end of his contract, but probably beyond, as well. He maybe on the shorter side, but he makes players work for their baskets. I'd rather someone need to shoot over my defensive player than go around him every time.

Nobody rational is saying he's done.

They are saying he doesn't fit this roster. They say he is 31 and his game probably won't age well. They are saying no one will want to pay $36M for him, that it will be very tough to trade him. They are saying he is a 20 ppg scorer of mediocre efficiency and he doesn't do much else very well.

But... he can score 20 ppg for an NBA roster. We know he isn't done.

This is how NBA teams fail. Give out a max contract, then watch that player be a poor fit and a poor return on the resources allocated.

I guess I am just an idiot, but can you please explain to me why he is a bad fit? We were 3rd in the EC and went to the ECF last season after losing Kyrie, Horford, Morris, and Rozier. Kemba and Kanter were really the only replacements for those players. He is a legit 3rd scorer who provides a skillset our bigger wings do not have and cannot learn (speed/agility). He is an incredible, positive, uplifting individual and a great mentor for the younger players on this team. He also chose to come to Boston as a FA at a very rocky time in our franchise's recent history.

I get it, he gets paid a little too much and he was load managed coming back from an injury in a condensed season. But he is supposed to play in b2bs moving forward and will finally get a full offseason of rest. People are desperate to get him off the team, but I am not sure what the end goal is here. The trade options that are being thrown around by and large make us a worse team - why do we want to be worse? Like, people talk about the Clippers being a good fit for Kemba, but they are built around two all-star wings, just like we are. Why would they want him and not us?

Like the previous poster stated, Kemba’s offensive skillset at this point doesn’t make up for his defensive deficiencies and its not like he does anything else particularly well. He’s basically a Lou Williams type player being paid $36m+/year. The Celtics defense is completely compromised if the opposition has larger guards. Teams like Miami and Milwaukee will create switches on Kemba which allow them to score at will or force the C’s to double team, leaving a player wide open for a 3. It’s a simple strategy, but extremely effective in exposing the C’s defense while Walker is on the court.

I believe the C’s would be better off with a starting lineup of Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Timelord. Plus, Al makes nearly $10m less per year, which would allow the C’s to use salary on another player(s) that could help the team.

I love Kemba, but he is a $10 - $15 M off-the-bench guy.  Nothing short of amazing ... unless you are paying $35 M for the privilege.  Trade him for Horford or cut him ... but NEVER hate or disrespect him. But for those of you who think you can carry a player overpaid by $20-25 M, please see Blake Griffin or Andre Drummond. GREAT players, just overpaid.

Absurdity