Does this trade make sense for the Boston Celtics?
While Kemba Walker is a fantastic player and a very underrated guard in this league, the Boston Celtics need to move him in the offseason. Whether it is for draft picks or yet another All-Star caliber player, Boston needs to change things up in order to build a complete team and not just a starting rotation. It will certainly be something to monitor in NBA trade rumors.
Over the years, the Celtics have been so focused on making their starting five one of the best starting fives in the entire league that they forgot these guys cannot play all 48 minutes per game. Having key bench players and rotational guys are equally important in today’s NBA, which is something the Celtics have neglected over the years.
Boston’s bench is one of the worst in the league in terms of offensive production, as they rank 29th in bench points per game. All season long, their best bench player has probably been Payton Pritchard, who is in his rookie season! Now, the hope is that Evan Fournier can step up and be a productive player off-the-bench, but still, the Celtics have a major problem that needs to be addressed this offseason.
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Trading Kemba Walker and Tristan Thompson in this deal definitely addresses this problem, but they can probably get more value than what they are receiving from the Clippers. Luke Kennard is a solid, relatively young perimeter-oriented player and Patrick Beverley paired with Marcus Smart would make for a great, defensive backcourt in Boston, but overall, Ivica Zubac is the only player of value the Celtics get in this deal.
A third team would likely have to be involved in this deal for it to make sense for Boston, giving the Celtics another key player to add to their roster. Kemba Walker, even though he is having a down year and the Celtics may look to unload him, still holds a ton of value given the impact he can bring to any team in this league.
For that reason alone is why this trade may not make sense for the Celtics. They could definitely get a better offer that returns more value elsewhere, which is why the Clippers may not be the best trade partner for the Boston Celtics if they are looking to unload Kemba Walker in the offseason.
