The Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics fired the first salvo of the NBA offseason on Friday. They agreed to a trade involving point guard Kemba Walker, who will be heading to Oklahoma City, along with a 2021 first-round draft pick. Al Horford will be heading back to Boston, along with Moses Brown. The teams will also swap future second-round picks.
Walker hasn’t even been with the Thunder for 24-hours and people are already guessing where he may end up next. Oklahoma City is in the early stages of its rebuild, so it may be a stopover for the veteran point guard.
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The New York Knicks are one team that has been rumored as a potential landing spot for Walker should the Thunder look to move him again. While they need point guard, if they were interested in landing Walker, they probably would have taken the draft pick attached themselves.
Another team to keep an eye on is the Los Angeles Lakers. Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated believes they should go after Walker. In addition, he also believes that forward Kyle Kuzma is on his way out of Los Angeles.
The Lakers could have a hole to fill at point guard if Dennis Schroder decides to move on in free agency. He already turned down a lucrative extension offer from the Lakers during the season, so his future with the team is cloudy at best.
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Kuzma could be used as the main piece to go to Oklahoma City in a Walker trade as the Lakers do not have any first-round draft picks in the near future to deal because of the Anthony Davis trade.
Kemba Walker would give the Lakers a third scoring option behind LeBron James and AD, but his deteriorating health and lack of defensive impact could be a poor fit for the Lakers. However, as long as LeBron is on the roster, the team is in win-now mode. A battle-tested veteran such as Walker could be something he pushes for if he is made available by the Thunder.
