Tag: Kemba Walker

‘I didn’t know that I was going to be traded,’ claims ex-Celtics star guard Kemba Walker

Walker claimed it took him by surprise despite rumbles he’d been angling for an exit from the Celtics earlier in the month.

Whatever cast a pall over Boston Celtics basketball last season, it is safe to say it was not Kyrie Irving, who has taken his fair share of ire in the press for his role in the team’s dysfunction during his tenure with the Celtics.

And while it may also have had something to do with the state of UConn product Kemba Walker‘s knee, it is also likely safe to say that Walker himself was not a primary cause — even if the hyper-competitive point guard may have been unhappy with having to sit as much as he did in order to protect said balky knee.

Asked about the funk that lingered into his short tenure with the team by ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the Bronx native couldn’t — or perhaps wouldn’t — put his finger on it.

Calculating the Hall of Fame odds for Boston Celtics yet to make it in

There are more Boston Celtics in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame than players of any other team – but who else might be joining them from Boston’s ranks?

The Boston Celtics have more players in Springfield, Massachusetts’ Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame than any other franchise in NBA history, and could be poised to add several more in the future, if the odds listed by Basketball-reference.com pan out favorably.

But who are the Celtics alumni with a good chance — or for that matter, any chance at all? We put together the following list of candidates with at least some shot at making the hall according to the essential reference of all things NBA statistics, excluding players who did not complete at least one full season with Boston to put some manageable limits on this exercise.

Let’s take a look at the potential candidates.

ESPN grades the Thunder’s offseason, questions some draft trades

ESPN thought the Thunder recovered well from poor luck in the NBA draft lottery, but the trades during the draft weren’t all up to Kevin Pelton’s liking as he graded their offseason.

All in all, in the eyes of ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, the Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t have a poor offseason.

After suffering some poor luck in the NBA draft lottery, both losing out on the chance to get the pick of the Houston Rockets and seeing their own selection drop one to No. 6, the Thunder did well to recover. Pelton gave OKC a B grade.

“The Thunder decided to slowly stay the course on their rebuilding project. Oklahoma City added three more future first-round picks through trades, taking back veterans Derrick Favors and Kemba Walker (the latter quickly waived with a buyout) and sending the pick that came with Walker to Houston for two future ones.”

Favors, who was acquired at a time in which the Thunder had no centers, will take Al Horford’s spot as a veteran big but likely will not play as large of an on-court role as Horford did.

Walker, now on the New York Knicks, was acquired by OKC in the trade that shipped Horford and Moses Brown to the Boston Celtics. The Thunder’s return for that was the first-round pick and getting rid of Horford’s contract.

Pelton liked those deals, but wasn’t a huge fan of the draft-day ones. The first-round pick received from the Celtics, No. 16 in the 2021 draft, was traded during the draft to the Houston Rockets for two future picks. They also gave up the 34th and 36th picks to move up to No. 32.

“At some point, the Thunder will have to consolidate picks, and the value they got in sending out both No. 36 and No. 34 to move up just two spots to draft Jeremiah Robinson-Earl 32nd was a bad sign. I also wonder whether Oklahoma City might have been better off just keeping the 16th pick and drafting the promising Alperen Sengun.”

Pelton sounds like he didn’t love those, but looking from a broader lens, this gives him some concern about the value of future Thunder picks. This treasure chest of picks are the main calling for OKC — they have dozens of them over the next six years, but cannot roster all of them. At some point, some will be traded. What will their value be?

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Kemba Walker is reportedly joining the Knicks and everyone shared his legendary game-winner at MSG in 2011

This shot by Kemba Walker in 2011 is still so good.

Kemba Walker is reportedly going home as the New York City native has settled on a buyout with the Oklahoma City Thunder and upon clearing waivers will join the Knicks, per a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Walker, a four-time NBA All-Star, spent the past two seasons with the Boston Celtics before being traded to OKC in June.

His return home to NYC should be a pretty sweet one for Walker, who has had some big moments at Madison Square Garden.

Walker played his college ball at UConn and hit a memorable game-winner in the 2011 Big East Tournament that is still so fun to watch.

Walker went on to lead UConn to the Big East title that year and then a few weeks later they won the 2011 national championship. It was an incredible run of basketball by an incredible player.

Everyone on Twitter was talking about that shot following the news.

NBA free agency: Projected lineup for Knicks with Kemba Walker

The New York Knicks made a splash with a playoff appearance this past season and have continued to make noise with an active offseason.

The New York Knicks made a splash with a playoff appearance this past season and have continued to make noise with an active offseason.

During his first year as head coach of the Knicks, head coach Tom Thibodeau got the most out of his players. Julius Randle took a huge step forward, winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Meanwhile, Immanuel Quickley outperformed expectations and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second-Team.

The organization built on that success by re-signing Derrick Rose and Nerlens Noel. They have also managed to sign big names such as Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker, who were actually teammates on the Boston Celtics in 2020-21.

Statistically speaking, Walker’s play was elevated quite a bit once Fournier joined the Celtics. Boston outscored opponents by an excellent 14.8 points per 100 possessions when Walker and Fournier were on the floor at the same time during regular-season action, per PBP Stats. Boston’s net rating (1.1) was much worse when Walker appeared without Fournier.

Meanwhile, Walker averaged 27.0 points per 36 minutes when he shared the court with Fournier. Compare that figure to the 22.5 points per 36 minutes in minutes he played without Fournier this past season.

The two players can add some value to the momentum that the Knicks had en route to the 2021 NBA Playoffs. especially if players like Quickley and RJ Barrett continue their development.

NBA free agency: Projected lineup for Knicks with Kemba Walker

The New York Knicks made a splash with a playoff appearance this past season and have continued to make noise with an active offseason.

The New York Knicks made a splash with a playoff appearance this past season and have continued to make noise with an active offseason.

During his first year as head coach of the Knicks, head coach Tom Thibodeau got the most out of his players. Julius Randle took a huge step forward, winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Meanwhile, Immanuel Quickley outperformed expectations and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second-Team.

The organization built on that success by re-signing Derrick Rose and Nerlens Noel. They have also managed to sign big names such as Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker, who were actually teammates on the Boston Celtics in 2020-21.

Statistically speaking, Walker’s play was elevated quite a bit once Fournier joined the Celtics. Boston outscored opponents by an excellent 14.8 points per 100 possessions when Walker and Fournier were on the floor at the same time during regular-season action, per PBP Stats. Boston’s net rating (1.1) was much worse when Walker appeared without Fournier.

Meanwhile, Walker averaged 27.0 points per 36 minutes when he shared the court with Fournier. Compare that figure to the 22.5 points per 36 minutes in minutes he played without Fournier this past season.

The two players can add some value to the momentum that the Knicks had en route to the 2021 NBA Playoffs. especially if players like Quickley and RJ Barrett continue their development.

WATCH: Did the Boston Celtics trade veteran point guard Kemba Walker too soon?

With rumbles of interest coming from the West Coast, one may wonder — but should we?

With rumbles of potential interest in teams rumored to have interest in trading for veteran Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Kemba Walker bubbling up from multiple West Coast teams, the question of whether the Boston Celtics moved the UConn product too soon (and, presumably, for too little in return) has been gaining currency. But is it a reasonable thing to wonder?

The hosts of the CLNS Media “Winning Plays” podcast Brian Robb and Rich Levine share their thoughts on the deal that brought back fan-favorite big man Al Horford, center Moses Brown and a whole lot of cap relief in their most recent episode.

Watch the video embedded below to get their take on the big deal that kicked off the Celtics offseason under new team president Brad Stevens, as well as what they think of Horford’s fit with this iteration of his former team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI2rkBYm2_w

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Could former Boston Celtic Kemba Walker be Los Angeles bound in a trade?

The UConn product is seen as a logical fit in either team based in the southern California city.

Could former Boston Celtics starting point guard Kemba Walker soon be calling Los Angeles home? According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe on a recent episode of his “Lowe Post” podcast, the eponymous host speculated that either the Clippers or the Lakers might have interest in the UConn standout.

“I think both the L.A. teams are going to be sniffing around Kemba Walker. I think that’s the market,” explained Lowe, connecting the dots between both team’s lack of backcourt scoring and the player Boston dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder to start their offseason. Whether either team has what the Thunder would want given their massive trove of draft assets is a question needing an answer before we see the former Celtic in La-La land, however.

“I don’t know if they have whatever Oklahoma City wants, but that’s the level that I think they can target,” observed the ESPN NBA insider.

While it might hurt the eyes of Celtics fans to see Walker in purple and gold, landing with either team would put the New Yorker in a position to impact winning in the way he most wants at this stage of his career.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Sam Presti thinks Kemba Walker trade is great for both teams

Sam Presti said the Kemba Walker trade with the Celtics made sense for both teams and Al Horford himself.

In the 2020 offseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder received a draft pick along with center Al Horford, whose value was at an all-time low following a disappointing season with the Philadelphia 76ers. They helped revive his value and traded him for a first-round draft pick and a new player whose value is the lowest its been since stepping into the NBA: Kemba Walker.

They’re hoping they can successfully run this process again, and general manager Sam Presti gave some insight on how the trade with the Boston Celtics came together during a June press conference.

“The Celtics had some interest in Al. We’ve had a few different conversations,” Presti said. “When Brad (Stevens) assumed the role of running the front office, it was kind of a natural conversation that came up.”

Stevens coached Horford for three seasons, two of which the team got to the Eastern Conference Finals. They’ve struggled to find consistent big man play since Horford signed a big contract with the 76ers in free agency.

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“It made a lot of sense for both teams. I think it’s a great trade for the Celtics, I think great for us. I think it’s a pretty simple deal, I don’t think it’s super complicated,” Presti said.

“Al has been awesome for us and I think he’s thrilled about being back in Boston, so I’m glad that it worked for everybody.

Presti called Walker a high-character athlete and said that the scouting department has heard consistently positive things about the point guard.

Oklahoma City hopes the 31-year-old can begin playing like an All-Star again, and the organization received yet another first-round pick.

“The 16th pick in any draft is really, really hard to get ahold of, and getting a player like Walker, who like I said before, shot creation is at a big premium … so it just makes sense for us,” Presti said.

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Former Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker reportedly to be traded “imminently”

Could the former Boston guard be on the move again so soon?

It seems former Boston Celtics starting point guard Kemba Walker might not be with his new team — the Oklahoma City Thunder — very long if recent reports coming out of his home state of New York are correct.

The UConn product was dealt soon after the start of the Celtics offseason in a trade that brought back former Celtic big man Al Horford and center Moses Brown. After the dust settled on the deal, there was a general consensus among NBA analysts that the Thunder would in turn try to flip him again at some point in the near-term future if not necessarily the offseason, though it seems that process might be heating up before Walker even sniffs the court in Oklahoma City.

Per the New York Daily News’ Kristian Winfield, such a trade is “imminent.”