Walker asking to be traded

Looks like the Kemba time in Boston will be over if and when they can make a move. Kemba and the organization have agreed to a mutual parting of the ways

Not sure if this is the article Rosalie was referring to, but it has some interesting tidbits not just about Walker, but also about Ainge, and the internal problems this team faced:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2944334-sources-say-boston-celtics-and-kemba-walker-want-a-breakup

Sources Say Boston Celtics and Kemba Walker Want a Breakup

The Kemba Walker experiment in Boston seems to be coming to an end. Sources said the Boston Celtics and Walker are likely to move forward from their relationship this offseason in a mutual agreement between the parties.

The once promising young Celtics who were so close to the NBA Finals are now in the middle of a potential blowup. Their season went so poorly that the organization decided to shake up the front office, the coaching staff and player personnel.

President of basketball operations Danny Ainge retired, and former head coach Brad Stevens was promoted to fill the position. Sources said the team will keep Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but Walker will be a part of the shakeup. And the feeling is mutual between Walker and the organization.

Walker helped push the Celtics to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020, but they fell short to a surprise Miami Heat run. Despite that success, Ainge was ready to move on from Walker within the point guard's first year.

Sources close to the Celtics revealed Ainge sought to trade Walker, and Jrue Holiday was the target. Holiday ended up with the Milwaukee Bucks, who are now in the second round of the playoffs.

A source close to Walker said he was hurt by Boston's efforts to trade him, which created a rift in the Walker-Ainge relationship. Walker has a great relationship with his teammates and looked forward to being a veteran mentor to Tatum and Brown, but the same can't be said about Walker and the front office. He no longer feels wanted.

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One executive in the NBA said Walker isn't the only player to have those negative feelings toward Ainge, as players around the league have not trusted Celtics management during the Ainge era. Perhaps the most telling public example of that reputation came when Anthony Davis' father said he would never want his son to play for the Celtics after how they handled Isaiah Thomas' injury and departure.

The NBA's health and safety protocols and injuries made a big impact on the Celtics. Tatum had a serious case of COVID-19 that resulted in his needing an inhaler, four other players simultaneously dealt with the protocols, and Brown suffered a season-ending injury. Boston fell short of expectations as the East's No. 7 seed.

The COVID-19 situation was so bad that by April, the Celtics had lost 131 player-days because of the health and safety protocols. The end result of the season was getting eliminated by the Brooklyn Nets in five games in the first round.

Walker had his moments last season but was not healthy during the 2020-21 season. He missed 29 games in the regular season and the final two games of the playoffs.

Even when Walker, Tatum and Brown were all on the floor, ball-stopping issues plagued the Celtics; they ranked 25th in assists per game in both 2019-20 and 2020-21. This was the type of season wherein the Celtics realized things just weren't working.

Walker is set to earn $36 million in 2021-22, which will make a trade difficult. His contract expires at the end of the 2022-23 season, during which he has a player option for $37.7 million. According to The Athletic's Jared Weiss: "Multiple front-office sources across the NBA told The Athletic [last] week they still view Walker as having negative trade value should the team decide to go that route this offseason. That likely means a trade would cost the Celtics extra picks or assets to offload, even if Walker is universally admired for his relentlessly positive attitude and hard work through injury."

But sources still expect teams looking for a veteran scoring point guard to monitor Walker. The New York Knicks, who must make decisions on soon-to-be free-agent Derrick Rose's future and whether to start rookie sensation Immanuel Quickley, could be on that list. Walker said last year that the Knicks were one of his "top priorities" when he was a free agent in 2019.

The Knicks have roughly $60 million in cap space and could take on Walker's contract while making other free-agency moves. The playoffs proved the Knicks need another scoring option besides Julius Randle; the team ranked last in postseason points per game, averaging only 97.0.

Another team that could easily assimilate Walker would be the Dallas Mavericks. Kristaps Porzingis is reportedly frustrated with his role and was used less and less throughout the playoffs; he had a 26.5 usage rate in the regular season, and it dropped to a career-low 16.2 in the playoffs.

A straight-up trade of Walker for Porzingis could give both players fresh starts and Dallas a shorter contract (Porzingis is owed $31.7 million and $33.8 million over the next two seasons and has a $36.0 million player option for 2023-24). The playoffs showed Luka Doncic needs someone else to help create so he doesn't slow down in the fourth quarter—when he scored just 40 points in seven games on 34.9 percent shooting.

But anything is possible in the NBA—if the Philadelphia 76ers were able to clear Al Horford's $27 million-per-year contract from their books, the Celtics should be able to clear Walker's. Teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder could accept the salary dump in exchange for draft picks.

As for what Walker wants, a source close to his camp said it's a winning situation. This doesn't necessarily mean a championship-or-bust team such as the Nets or Los Angeles Lakers but one in which Walker could positively impact its ability to win. Contributing to a younger team's potential playoff success, such as the Mavericks' or Knicks', could fulfill that desire.

Where Walker lands could depend on what happens with starting-caliber free-agent guards, including Kyle Lowry, Dennis Schroder and Mike Conley. Teams with cap space would be expected to do their due diligence on those players before dispensing with valuable assets to land someone such as Walker.

Let the musical chairs commence.

Took a quick look at Kemba's stats, and really, other than a small dropoff in 3 pt percentage, his numbers this year were essentially the same as for the last five years, supposedly before he was "done" and still a star.

The one thing I have to say in all of this is that Danny is taking the hit here, and I am not totally understanding why? A guy comes to a team, signs a huge contract, plays in the USA Team, then continues on to play the start of the season well enough to get voted on to the all star team. Before that game he took a couple of games off for a sore knee, then played 30 minutes in the all star game. Then boom, he is out of the line up for ? HOW LONG??? Covid hits and the team is sideline for months. He has all that time to get better, but from that time on, it was in one night out the next. This is Danny's fault???? this guy was highly touted, and most of us were thrilled when he signed here to take over for you know who. When all of this started happening, it would only stand to reason that Danny would look into possibly getting a consistent point guard.

I know I have defended Kemba all year, and I still feel bad that this has happened. But, what have you all said to me??? This is a business..so as Ainge walks out the door, it is kicking him in the ass even though he tried as hard as he could to build a team around our two young studs

Too bad that it has to end this way, but in one game and out the next has to bee a terrible way to play consistent basketball. I pray that Kemba finds what he is searching for as his knees will only hold up for so long. Who to get? I have no idea at this point, hey that is what Brad is getting the big bucks for

RosalieTCeltics wrote:The one thing I have to say in all of this is that Danny is taking the hit here, and I am not totally understanding why?  A guy comes to a team, signs a huge contract, plays in the USA Team, then continues on to play the start of the season well enough to get voted on to the all star team. Before that game he took a couple of games off for a sore knee, then played 30 minutes in the all star game. Then boom, he is out of the line up for ? HOW LONG???  Covid hits and the team is sideline for months. He has all that time to get better, but from that time on, it was in one night out the next.  This is Danny's fault????  this guy was highly touted, and most of us were thrilled when he signed here to take over for you know who.  When all of this started happening, it would only stand to reason that Danny would look into possibly getting a consistent point guard.

I know I have defended Kemba all year, and I still feel bad that this has happened. But, what have you all said to me??? This is a business..so as Ainge walks out the door, it is kicking him in the ass even though he tried as hard as he could to build a team around our two young studs

Too bad that it has to end this way, but in one game and out the next has to bee a terrible way to play consistent basketball. I pray that Kemba finds what he is searching for as his knees will only hold up for so long.  Who to get? I have no idea at this point, hey that is what Brad is getting the big bucks for

Great post. I just edited my previous post to say that Kemba's numbers weren't very different from the last several years when everyone thought he was a star. Clearly not everything was Kemba's fault. I love the J's as much as anyone, but it might not be a coincidence that as their usage increased, the overall assist ratio of the Celtics began to plummet. It's understandable - it takes young guys awhile to get past proving they are stars and start proving they are winners. Doncic is going through something similar. And the Ainge bashing is a little weird. Isn't he the guy who drafted JT, JB, MS, RWIII??? Yet somehow he is missed on too many draft picks? The only thing I do blame Danny for is the KI debacle. That was bad karmically, and may have blown our chance of landing AD, and, it was just a bad basketball decision. People can say, "KI was a star, at the time, it was a no brainer!!" - maybe, but at the time, there were many people (some here) who were not NBA savants who clearly saw what KI was.

Wow! Looks like Boston will go full nuclear now. Try to get all the value you can, Brad. The fire is hotter than the frying pan right off the bat.

db

Shamrock,

Just add this to the long list of complete "misunderstandings" about Boston and the Celtics. It's all about perspective and perception. People see what they want to see then they write about it to a grand scale audience no matter how far off the deep end it is. From that, it somehow becomes fact when it is no closer to the original truth than I am to the edge of the universe.

db

Shamrock1000 wrote:

RosalieTCeltics wrote:The one thing I have to say in all of this is that Danny is taking the hit here, and I am not totally understanding why?  A guy comes to a team, signs a huge contract, plays in the USA Team, then continues on to play the start of the season well enough to get voted on to the all star team. Before that game he took a couple of games off for a sore knee, then played 30 minutes in the all star game. Then boom, he is out of the line up for ? HOW LONG???  Covid hits and the team is sideline for months. He has all that time to get better, but from that time on, it was in one night out the next.  This is Danny's fault????  this guy was highly touted, and most of us were thrilled when he signed here to take over for you know who.  When all of this started happening, it would only stand to reason that Danny would look into possibly getting a consistent point guard.

I know I have defended Kemba all year, and I still feel bad that this has happened. But, what have you all said to me??? This is a business..so as Ainge walks out the door, it is kicking him in the ass even though he tried as hard as he could to build a team around our two young studs

Too bad that it has to end this way, but in one game and out the next has to bee a terrible way to play consistent basketball. I pray that Kemba finds what he is searching for as his knees will only hold up for so long.  Who to get? I have no idea at this point, hey that is what Brad is getting the big bucks for

Great post. I just edited my previous post to say that Kemba's numbers weren't very different from the last several years when everyone thought he was a star. Clearly not everything was Kemba's fault. I love the J's as much as anyone, but it might not be a coincidence that as their usage increased, the overall assist ratio of the Celtics began to plummet. It's understandable - it takes young guys awhile to get past proving they are stars and start proving they are winners. Doncic is going through something similar. And the Ainge bashing is a little weird. Isn't he the guy who drafted JT, JB, MS, RWIII??? Yet somehow he is missed on too many draft picks? The only thing I do blame Danny for is the KI debacle. That was bad karmically, and may have blown our chance of landing AD, and, it was just a bad basketball decision. People can say, "KI was a star, at the time, it was a no brainer!!" - maybe, but at the time, there were many people (some here) who were not NBA savants who clearly saw what KI was.

Okay, I’m going to come to Danny’s defense on a couple of things here. Spare me the Karma Mama Bahama! No one can blame him for making the trade to get Kyrie. Prior to the trade, people thought Kyrie was a little different but not to the extent of what we found out AFTER he got here and I do believe that it surfaced after he got here because he flipped. So we cannot say Danny did not do his due diligence on Kyrie. Again that is a trade that you have to make because clearly despite all of his s**t, Kyrie is a hell of a player. Now where that went sideways is the perception surrounding it and some of it was real. The perception was that Danny mistreated IT by trading him during the worst time of his life while IT going through all that gave his all to the team. Lets face it, the optics were bad, especially from the outside looking in. But, i saw an in-depth interview with IT not too long ago and he said that the only thing that upset him about all of that was that the team was not totally honest with him as to the extent of his injury and the risk he was taking by continuing to play. He went on to say that in hindsight he probably would not have played but at that time, even if he knew the risk he would have taken it because he knew that that was his one time to make the big payday. So according to IT, he is not mad at anybody.
The facts we know but the stench is still out there and that did not help Danny or the Celtics reputation then and to this day.

Now to Kemba, Maybe Danny did overreact by signing him to all that money knowing he had that knee(he had to know something) but his trying to trade him a year later is something I think that he should’ve tried to do. Like my mentor used to tell me when it came to firing someone “Just admit your mistake and get him the hell out of here”. I don’t fault Danny for trying to trade Kemba for Holiday or anyone else who could help the team.
I understand that Kemba’s feeling might be hurt behind it but really, thats just too bad. Gotta move on.
Danny has done a lot of great things and has also screwed up here toward the end of his tenure. I’m a fan of lots of what he’s done and not a fan of lots of things he’s done or not done. Probably can say that about anyone cant we? It was time for him to kick rocks and hopefully find another landing spot. As for AD’s dad. STFU you know not what you speakith.

You are ready my post wrong, I do NOT blame Danny for doing any of this stuff. I was defending him. My point is, why do guys making millions and millions of dollars, who get hurt, cannot perform the way it was expected they would, then cry about feeling "hurt" . This is my point, it was my point with Hayward too, who I also defended night in and night out, and who walked away after taking three years of salary for half or less of the time he played. No loyalty there either. If it is a business, the door swings both ways. So Danny Ainge is not getting kicked by me, I appreciate what he has done. I am sorry for what happened with these guys.

This world is totally different now, this was a good time for Ainge to walk, he has given enough. It is Brads clock now, and I hope and pray he will hit the ground running. I have faith in him.
These writers today are unbelievable. Put them in the GN's seat and see how fast they would screw up a team. Genius's all of them

RosalieTCeltics wrote:You are ready my post wrong, I do NOT blame Danny for doing any of this stuff.  I was defending him.  My point is, why do guys making millions and millions of dollars, who get hurt, cannot perform the way it was expected they would, then cry about feeling "hurt" .  This is my point, it was my point with Hayward too, who I also defended night in and night out, and who walked away after taking three years of salary for half or less of the time he played. No loyalty there either. If it is a business, the door swings both ways.  So Danny Ainge is not getting kicked by me, I appreciate what he has done. I am sorry for what happened with these guys.

This world is totally different now, this was a good time for Ainge to walk, he has given enough. It is Brads clock now, and I hope and pray he will hit the ground running. I have faith in him.
These writers today are unbelievable. Put them in the GN's seat and see how fast they would screw up a team.  Genius's all of them

Please reread my post. I totally agreeing with you. I think we are both saying the same thing. The folks I was referring to that were blaming Danny were mostly outsiders who don’t know the entire story.

I don't know anything about NBA contracts but it seems that if KW really wants out he's either going to have to play at least part of a season without knees issues, or renegotiate his contract in some sort of sign and trade deal. I suppose a buyout might be possible but I suspect it would still be more money than we would want to give up for nothing. It's not like he's worthless. In fact with more rest and treatment, and a less crazy schedule, he could still be a valuable asset. And if his beef was with Ainge, Ainge is gone.

Danny is gone but the aftermath will remain for a while.

I give Danny 110% of the blame for what is happening with Kemba Walker.  

Danny should not have signed him given his previous issue with the knee including multiple procedures.  Danny ignored all the flashing yellow lights and the Celtics got t-boned in the intersection as a result.

Then Danny tries to trade Kemba just before this  season started and it blew up in his face.  Again it was reported and mentioned right here on this forum.  Some people did not want to believe it.  

It is hard not to draw a parallel to what transpired  with Isaiah Thomas.  Below is a very candid interview with Thomas.  He discusses his 3 seasons and details the events that led to him being traded to the Cavs for Kyrie Irving.   Listen to what he has to say and come to your own conclusions.   It sounds as though the Celtics should have been more informative with him as it relates to the potential long term impact of playing with his hip injury.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9UHtNTuYMY

Back to KW:

I think that the Knicks would be an excellent landing spot for Kemba.  I really do not think the Mavs would be.  Doncic is a ball dominant PG so how would Kemba fit on that team?  Also, Porzingis has an injury history as well so why the hell would the Celtics want him in return.  Have they not learned anything?

Who would we want from the Knicks?


Bob


.

bobheckler wrote:Who would we want from the Knicks?  


Bob


.

Bobh they have several guys that are free agents.  Journeyman (FA) Alex Burks would be the guy I would want but he would have to want to come here.  The Knicks could do a sign and trade.  Just like we did with TRo.  The Knicks should ask for a pick as part of the compensation for taking on Kemba's $73 million contract AND questionable availability.  The Celtics should be more than willing to do that.

If we get Burks I see no reason to spend money on Fournier.  Just let him go.  Young wings Nesmith and Langford need more playing time to develop.  Then we still have $11 million left from the GH trade exception if Brad/Danny    want to add another piece.  We also will have options with a couple of other trade exceptions.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/cap/2021/

Further, our new starting PG for the upcoming season will be PP.  We need to hire a coach and former NBA PG's like Chauncey or Sam that can coach him up.  

I think this will at least get us back on track.  A healthy Robert Williams and a coached up PP with a year under his belt could make for a fun and competitive team.

Yep, dboss, Sam or Chauncey. I'd really like Sam myself with the coaching experience so far and championship pedigree. Seems like an obvious choice.

You know we've done this over all the years with Danny. I don't think any of us ever picked who Danny turned out to pick. Ever.
If you have evidence, please produce and I'll retract, but each time on this site everything Danny did was met with crazy surprise.

With this promotion, we now have a clean slate! Now as obvious as this coaching choice seems, we'll know right off the bat if Brad is a carbon copy of his predecessor.

db

dbrown4 wrote:Yep, dboss, Sam or Chauncey.  I'd really like Sam myself with the coaching experience so far and championship pedigree.  Seems like an obvious choice.  

You know we've done this over all the years with Danny.  I don't think any of us ever picked who Danny turned out to pick.  Ever.
If you have evidence, please produce and I'll retract, but each time on this site everything Danny did was met with crazy surprise.  

With this promotion, we now have a clean slate!  Now as obvious as this coaching choice seems, we'll know right off the bat if Brad is a carbon copy of his predecessor.  

db

db former board member Rambone picked Jaylen Brown

db,

I do think Smart, Brown and Tatum were all on several board member's wish list and all three were predicted by various draft gurus. I don't have time to find evidence but that is what I recall. I know I was saying we needed Smart and everyone in the nation with a cable, streaming or satellite connection knew Danny was drafting Tatum. I don't know that anyone was calling for Nesmith last draft but most seemed happy he went with at least one team need and picked a shooter.

There were some crazy ones, you're right about that. I personally lost my mind with Fab Melo and James Young. The Guerschon Yabusele pick caused everyone including the dog to leave the room so they didn't have to hear me rant.  Looking at other team's drafts, I don't think that's unique to Danny. Other GMs make some mind boggling picks too.

Walker made sense to me at the time. If I were in Danny's place, I would have done the same. I also think he's more valuable to this team than some make him out to be.

Regards

dbrown,

NYCelt liked Marcus Smart where and when he was picked. I am sure that there some that picked Tatum over Ball, Jackson or Fultz. Likewise, some picked Brown over Ingram, Bender, Hield, or Dunn. (I liked Hield).

We had one member here that picked Thon Maker at #10 and that guy had many other predictions come true as well.

I will agree that outside of our recent top 10 picks, there haven't been many correct guesses from us, or anyone else for that matter!!

Ktron wrote:

Okay, I’m going to come to Danny’s defense on a couple of things here. Spare me the Karma Mama Bahama! No one can blame him for making the trade to get Kyrie. Prior to the trade, people thought Kyrie was a little different but not to the extent of what we found out AFTER he got here and I do believe that it surfaced after he got here because he flipped. So we cannot say Danny did not do his due diligence on Kyrie. Again that is a trade that you have to make because clearly despite all of his s**t, Kyrie is a hell of a player. Now where that went sideways is the perception surrounding it and some of it was real. The perception was that Danny mistreated IT by trading him during the worst time of his life while IT going through all that gave his all to the team. Lets face it, the optics were bad, especially from the outside looking in. But, i saw an in-depth interview with IT not too long ago and he said that the only thing that upset him about all of that was that the team was not totally honest with him as to the extent of his injury and the risk he was taking by continuing to play. He went on to say that in hindsight he probably would not have played but at that time, even if he knew the risk he would have taken it because he knew that that was his one time to make the big payday. So according to IT, he is not mad at anybody.
The facts we know but the stench is still out there and that did not help Danny or the Celtics reputation then and to this day.

Now to Kemba, Maybe Danny did overreact by signing him to all that money knowing he had that knee(he had to know something) but his trying to trade him a year later is something I think that he should’ve tried to do. Like my mentor used to tell me when it came to firing someone “Just admit your mistake and get him the hell out of here”. I don’t fault Danny for trying to trade Kemba for Holiday or anyone else who could help the team.
I understand that Kemba’s feeling might be hurt behind it but really, thats just too bad. Gotta move on.
Danny has done a lot of great things and has also screwed up here toward the end of his tenure. I’m a fan of lots of what he’s done and not a fan of lots of things he’s done or not done. Probably can say that about anyone cant we? It was time for him to kick rocks and hopefully find another landing spot. As for AD’s dad. STFU you know not what you speakith.

Tron, a couple of thoughts...there absolutely were people, some on this board, who were against the KI trade. I was one of them. I am no basketball savant, but if you look at their numbers the two years before they were traded, those numbers do not indicate that KI was really much better than IT. Personally, by the eye test, I agree that KI might be the most aesthetically pleasing player I have ever seen. I think that the wizardry with which KI handles the ball and the way he moves so efficiently through a forest of players makes people think KI is better than he is. In the end, basketball is not ballet. So some of us were against the trade because 1) numbers didn't indicate a huge difference between the two players at the time of the trade; 2) we didn't know the extent of IT's hip injury; 3) Kyrie was a sketchy dude even back then - he couldn't handle being in Lebron's shadow, yet when he was "the man", his teams sucked (true in Cleveland pre-Lebron, true in Boston, and true in Brooklyn pre-Harden and Durant's return); 4) we had 2 years of indisputable evidence that IT fit amazingly well in terms of team chemistry; and 5) keeping IT would have allowed us to keep that Nets pick. Thus, it is not true that the KI-IT trade was a no-brainer, especially considering losing the Nets pick.

The one thing that might make it a no-brainer is that Danny knew IT was damaged goods, but if that is true, I am not sure that reflects well on Danny either. You said i saw an in-depth interview with IT not too long ago and he said that the only thing that upset him about all of that was that the team was not totally honest with him as to the extent of his injury and the risk he was taking by continuing to play. He went on to say that in hindsight he probably would not have played but at that time, even if he knew the risk he would have taken it because he knew that that was his one time to make the big payday. So according to IT, he is not mad at anybody.

Read those sentences again a couple of times. If that is true, and Danny and the Celtics knew the risk IT was taking by continuing to play yet hid that information from him??? That is some serious, low-down evil shite! If doesn't matter if IT says he still would have played, the right thing to do is to protect the player from himself in such a situation. If the Celtics really withheld medical information from IT, then that is really bad - it basically ended his NBA dream, prevented him from realizing his earning potential (which would have been generational wealth in this case), and literally caused him physical harm. IF Danny and the Celtics did that, then I don't blame AD's father for steering his kid away from such a franchise. Now, I don't believe that it really happened like that, at least not to the extent outlined here - I don't think Danny is that type of guy, also because IT would have sued by now. Nonetheless, the Karma mama Bahama really happened, and has affected how free agents see Boston.

In the end, I think Danny was an excellent GM overall, but that the KI-IT trade debacle and the subsequent desperation move to sign Kemba was his downfall.

gyso wrote:dbrown,

NYCelt liked Marcus Smart where and when he was picked.  I am sure that there some that picked Tatum over Ball, Jackson or Fultz.  Likewise, some picked Brown over Ingram, Bender, Hield, or Dunn. (I liked Hield).

We had one member here that picked Thon Maker at #10 and that guy had many other predictions come true as well.

I will agree that outside of our recent top 10 picks, there haven't been many correct guesses from us, or anyone else for that matter!!

I think statistically it's a fair bet that you're more likely to guess a 3rd pick right than a 30th.  

Danny and Wyc took the heat when, on draft night, they drafted Brown. Not being a college basketball genius, I just rolled with it and thought they might know more than those booing in the Garden that night. My my, I bet none would admit to being one of those boo birds now.

You can nitpick every draft since he got here, some good, some bad. All in all, I believe he has had a good run. He left us with Tatum, Brown, Marcus, and, if he ever stays healthy, Robert Williams. Who am I to go over every draft, are other teams willing to make their hit/miss lists
available? Some have had more than one shot at #1 and still screw up. This is apples and oranges as far as I am concerned.

There is a quote from someone in Kemba's "camp" (his cousin I believe) who is totally denying this report about Kemba. As it appears right now, no reputable news outlet has picked up this story and run with it except Bleacher Reports. I should know better than to q uote them, they have had more "fake" reports and silly trades than I can remember. I bit and the story took off like a shot. I still think there is something there

Another point to consider is that there have been changes that might affect Kemba's perspective.  

According to the reports Kemba's unhappiness started when the word came out that Danny was making calls around the league about his value and perhaps trading him before the deadline this year.  Danny, not Brad.  Even if this report was true that doesn't necessarily mean it is currently and is still how Kemba feels today.  He might not have felt safe and/or respected by Danny calling around about him (although, if he was being honest with himself, his chronic knee issues and decline in productivity made such calls almost a certainty) but Danny is gone now.

A lot of the rumors running around now were fired up by that initial report.  It may have been true right up until the day Danny retired and Brad was promoted, it may even have continued to be true if the search for Danny's replacement was still underway due to the uncertainty that would come with that, but now that he knows the new GM is Brad and he has a well-founded opinion of Brad as a person?  Who knows?


Bob


.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/report-team-source-denies-walker-154815174.html



Report: Team source denies Walker-Celtics souring; calls Holiday trade talk rumors ‘total garbage’


Justin Quinn
Thu, June 10, 2021, 8:48 AM



It seems as time passes, more sources are pouring cold water on the idea that there is a rift between the Boston Celtics and their starting point guard Kemba Walker. Local station WCVB reporter Chris Gasper reports that a “team source denied the reported breakup and vehemently denied that the team was looking to trade Walker and pursue free agent Jrue Holiday last offseason.”

As to the last point, Gasper’s source claims the Holiday – Walker trade rumors are “total garbage” and “Walker has not informed the Celtics that he has soured on them.” Instead, the UConn product is reportedly focused on his health, specifically on the “balky knee that limited him to 43 regular-season games.”

Walker has publicly been visibly frustrated by how the knee and a re-injury via a bone bruise limited his availability this season, especially in the postseason.


Regardless of whether there is a rift or not, the New Yorker should not be surprised if his contract is shopped this offseason with all the shake-ups going on within the organization.

Still, the team may well first want to see what they have from Walker with a full offseason to rest and condition, with presumably greater availability and fewer back-to-backs to deal with.

Ultimately, it will depend on the inclinations of new team president Brad Stevens, part of those aforementioned shake-ups within the organization.


Bob


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I wish I could find the final pregame interview Brad did with Sean Grande. During the interview he mentioned that he had spoken at length with Kemba about how sorry they were that he could not play in that final game in Brooklyn. He was very since about how he felt about Kemba and the way things had gone this year. When this report came out I did not put two and two together and realize that it might be an old report.

It is funny how guys making this kind of money become so sensitive about trades, etc With his health being what it has been for over a year, it stands to reason that any good GM would do the exact same thing. I do not consider the signing of Kemba a knee jerk reaction to Kyrie leaving. At the time it was the move of a good GM who landing on his feet running after that slap in the face from Kyrie. If anything, he should have traded Kyrie at the trade deadline when he suspected he would not return.

This story is far from over

RosalieTCeltics wrote: I do not consider the signing of Kemba a knee jerk reaction to Kyrie leaving. At the time it was the move of a good GM who landing on his feet running after that slap in the face from Kyrie.  If anything, he should have traded Kyrie at the trade deadline when he suspected he would not return.  

This story is far from over

Yes, he should have traded KI at the deadline. I whole-heartedly agree. Half the posters on this board knew KI was leaving. But I digress - in terms of the big picture, I think Danny was a pretty damn good GM. No GM gets everything right.