Woj Bomb: Kemba, 1st Rounder, & '25 2nd Rounder to OKC for Horford, Brown, 2nd

[SHAQATTACK]

I am curious about what he really thinks of Grant.

It is hard to say,  I would say he has to notice that he is a smart player, not athletic, lacks length, can't rebound and struggles to stay in front of guys.  But can shoot the three.   Those things are fairly obvious.   Grant slacked a lot this year and had that one good game in the playoffs where he obviously put forth the kind of effort he should have all year.  His advanced metrics were dog doo this year and the eye test was worse.  Did he play him because he liked him or necessity?   I think Grant would be ok if he is moved down the rotation to 10-15th guy, he is not a 6-9 rotation player in terms of skill or talent.

Good trade if your name is Yam Madar, bad trade if you're a C's fan

I think Moses Brown would have been better than anyone we could have picked at 16 folks.

Bingo…..at least aa far as bigs …..I’m scared RobW will always be down with some issue

[SparzWizard]

Now we just need a point guard

[Kuberski33]

Adrian Wojnarowski
@wojespn
·
2m
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.

Agreed! How can any fans not love this trade. Last years team was completely broken and major changes are needed. Kemba, who was only available about 50% of the time was due 73 million over 2 years so you must give up a first to get rid of that, no questions asked. To get a player like Al, who can immediately contribute, (and who is only partially guaranteed next year) is well worth it. Al is the opposite of a ball stopper and was called "the glue" last time he was here. Defense also definitely improves. Adding Moses Brown, a 21 year old with great upside, is just icing on the cake. The trade grade is an A! Nice job Brad!!!

When you bring on a 35-year old player you need to temper expectations about what he can contribute. Maybe he’ll be a useful player, maybe not.

He had a very good year last season.  He should certainly be useful, and the extra $10 million should be useful as well.

Getting him back on the floor has to help this team defensively. Won't hurt to have an active 7'2" guy who can limit opponent 2nd chances in there either.  Also cuts into Grant Williams minutes which is a net positive in and of itself.

[seancally]

Love it. Not sure who y’all wanted to draft at 16. Sure there’s always a chance it’s Giannis. We gonna play roulette again? How many 19-yr-olds are we gonna surround Tatum and brown with? Ainge didn’t cash in on some draft assets, but now we wanna keep all our draft assets? Don’t get it. Needed to get off Kemba’s salary and ideally fill some kind of need in return… this does that. Horford was a very productive player this year and then he got a nice long break by getting shut down. Don’t know much about Moses Brown but will educate myself on him. Most importantly horford’s salary is 50% lower next season and we regain flexibility sooner.

[hpantazo]

Now we just need a point guard

We need a PG that excels as a distributor instead of a scorer. Ideally someone who can also play D and knockdown an open jumper enough to keep defenses honest

[Rosco917]

I love the trade. Immediately ball movement and passing improve. Not to mention defense and BBIQ. Al had a solid season last year.

We also received a young center in Moses Brown that played pretty well last year too, and at 21 is still growing.

I'm not crazy about Smart starting at PG, it dilutes his true value off the bench. Other than giving Prichard a shot at running the team, they should be looking for a decent PG who can defend. (Not named Edwards.)

[SHAQATTACK]

When you bring on a 35-year old player you need to temper expectations about what he can contribute. Maybe he’ll be a useful player, maybe not

More excited by Brown

I think Al is a better leader than Kemba flat out..............

100 % agree ,  Kemba was a nice dude ,  but no kind of vocal leader …..reason he smiled because he cleaned Boston’s clock with that contract .  Kemba days days were number , his body was a house of cards …..whelp it was payback for IT getting axed out of a huge contract.

[Tr1boy]

Adrian Wojnarowski: Brad Stevens’ first deal as President of Basketball Operations comes with Sam Presti, with whom he’s had a longtime friendship dating back to Butler days. Rare trade ahead of Chicago pre-draft combine, but sides got value they wanted now on a major deal. 34 mins ago – via Twitter wojespn

[Walker Wiggle]

Everyone's got an opinion on this but here's mine:

I was hoping they'd wait until after free agency, when I figured one team that had struck out on big-name free agents would call about Kemba. Maybe the team was impatient, or maybe they put feelers around the league and didn't have faith that there'd be any demand.

I have no problem with where the Celtics are at PG now. It will be Smart, Brown, Tatum, another wing/swing if not Fournier, and a big. It will be a really competitive team defensively that can switch everything and body up physically. I also think Pritchard can give you 20-25 good minutes in his 2nd year. But anyway, this team will play bigger and more physical next year.

I like adding Horford to the locker room, even though I'm not sure he's good enough at this age to be a starting center on a top-tier team. He may backup a healthy Timelord and play 20 minutes a night only.

Does this help the luxury tax conundrum? If I'm not mistaken, the Celtics still can't re-sign Fournier now that they've swapped Kemba for Horford, and still be under the tax threshold. Perhaps picking up Brown instead of the #16 pick helps on the edges. To get under the tax, perhaps the next move is to find a home for Tristan Thompson on a team with cap space, since you've now got Timelord, Brown, and Horford at center (plus Grant Williams, plus perhaps Kornet on a vet minimum). Adding Brown is nice also in case the team's future big-package move to pick up a star includes Timelord.

[SHAQATTACK]

Now we just need a point guard

Lillard works for me

Get er done Brad !

[Tr1boy]

I love the trade. Immediately ball movement and passing improve. Not to mention defense and BBIQ. Al had a solid season last year.

We also received a young center in Moses Brown that played pretty well last year too, and at 21 is still growing.

I'm not crazy about Smart starting at PG, it dilutes his true value off the bench. Other than giving Prichard a shot at running the team, they should be looking for a decent PG who can defend. (Not named Edwards.)

Brad is just getting started

who knows what happens to Smart.  He will be a UFA after next season.... just due to this factor, may force Brad to trade him

or keep him for another playoff run attempt

[Tr1boy]

Chris Forsberg: Celtics save $9 million in salary between Kemba + Al Horford next season. Horford’s 2022-23 salary is only partially guaranteed, which gives the Celtics a bunch of options with how to proceed. Essentially, path to adding a new third star is a bit easier 12 mins ago – via Twitter ChrisForsberg_

[liam]

This shocking. I knew it was coming and I'm still shocked!

[Celtic Fan Forever]

Now we just need a point guard

We need a PG that excels as a distributor instead of a scorer. Ideally someone who can also play D and knockdown an open jumper enough to keep defenses honest

Lonzo?

[Goldstar88]

I’m psyched. Been asking for this to happen since last off-season. He’s going to fit in so well.

Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Timelord. I’m good with that.