Celtics trade Kemba Walker to Thunder NBA stunner

The Celtics are trading Walker, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and a 2025 second-round draft pick to the Thunder for 35-year-old Al Horford, center Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick, as indicated by ESPN.

The move comes a little more than seven days after a report by Bleacher Report that said Walker and the Celtics were on the brink of a breakup.

Walker purportedly felt undesirable and “hurt” in Boston after previous GM Danny Ainge endeavored to trade him his first year with the team in 2019.

Horford, who turned 35 recently, has two years and $53.5 million remaining on his agreement, with a fractional assurance of $14.5 million for 2022-23.

Horford will get back to Boston where he played from 2016 to 2019. He proceeded to sign with the Sixers prior to being traded to the Thunder in December 2020.

The five-time NBA All-Star didn’t play in his last 28 games in Oklahoma City, as the Thunder considered trading him in the midst of their modify.

It’s hazy how Walker fits with the Thunder’s future and it is conceivable he is managed once more.

As indicated by Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, one NBA executive said a “Kemba-for-[Kristaps] Porzingis next year seems inevitable.”

Porzingis is presently in the middle of a firestorm in Dallas, as the Mavericks just headed out in different directions from long-term GM Donnie Nelson this week.

Mavericks head coach, Rick Carlisle additionally informed the team Thursday that he would not be getting back to coach for a 14th year in Dallas. The shakeup came in the midst of bits of gossip about pressure between franchise star Luka Doncic and executive Haralabos Voulgaris over decisions within the organization.

Ainge resigned from his position after Boston’s first-round playoff elimination because of the Nets. Brad Stevens was promoted from coach to Ainge’s position in the front the office, and the Celtics are on the chase for a new head coach.

Walker, who turned 31 in May, was set to gather $36 million out of 2021-22, and had a $37 million player-option for 2022-23 as a component of his four-year, $141 million max deal that the Celtics offered him as a feature of a sign and trade with the Hornets.