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Post by jmost on Jun 18, 2021 9:43:53 GMT -5
From ESPN: "The Celtics are trading Kemba Walker, the No. 16 pick in the 2021 NBA draft and a future second-round pick to the Thunder, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Oklahoma City is sending Al Horford, Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick back to Boston."
Wow, that was fast. I didn't even know trade season was open.
My gut reaction is that this is good. We needed to take Horford back to match salaries, but how much he plays for us is an open question. One thing this accomplishes is balancing the roster. We had too many small guys and wings and too few big men. This gives us two big guys who can play, one of whom (Brown) has genuine center size and has shown some monster rebounding ability. He's also cheap and under contract for three more years.
I feel a little bad for Kemba, going back to a rebuild situation, but only as bad as it's possible to feel for a multi-millionaire who plays basketball for a living.
I'm excited that Brad is showing decisiveness and boldness right away.
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Post by runrondo on Jun 18, 2021 11:05:02 GMT -5
I'm a little lukewarm on this. I don't put much stock on Moses Brown based on what Thunder fans thought of him so it's kind of a bummer to trade the guy you signed big money to for a guy you let go because of the money and lost a mid first rounder at the same time. This really speaks volumes to the lack of suitors for Kemba though. As a cap move, based on what we've seen from Kemba last year, and the fact that the last thing we need is another mid rounder young guy on this roster - this makes sense. Just sounds funny on initial look
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Post by jmost on Jun 18, 2021 11:23:36 GMT -5
Al was actually playing pretty well last year until they stopped playing him - presumably so they could lose more games and get a better pick. If we want to be active in summer 2022, Al's contract is only partially guaranteed for 22-23, so that gives us more flexibility to add a third star.
I expect this leads to a lot more moves. Some of our "big" men will not be back.
Now we just need a floor general.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 18, 2021 13:39:49 GMT -5
Welcome come, Horford. Now we know that Brad liked Al.
Al can teach Rob about being in the right place and the importance of positioning.
Don't like that we lost the 16th, but I think we are in a win now mode.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 18, 2021 14:41:15 GMT -5
Al, why did you have to leave in the first place??? Maybe if you stayed, things would have worked out for the team!!
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 18, 2021 16:03:31 GMT -5
Big reason for this trade was for cap flexibility, especially for the season after next, when only 14.5 million is guaranteed to Al (versus the 30+ mill we would've owed Kemba).
This trade opens the door to resigning Evan Fournier, if that's what we were after.
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Post by jrmzt on Jun 18, 2021 18:11:26 GMT -5
Great trade and I like Al coming back to Boston. Fournier could be Jordan Clarkson-esque for us as a top 6th man. But we are still a piece away from being a champ contender.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 18, 2021 19:52:07 GMT -5
Al is 35 and has lost a step, so I don't know if we should expect him to play a lot of minutes.
But with him, Tristan and Rob (and whenever Moses is ready for minutes), hoping that Center by committee will prove to be competent against Embiid, Jokic, Ayton, etc.
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Post by jmost on Jun 18, 2021 21:07:49 GMT -5
Brown average 9.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 24.7 minutes over the last 36 games of the year. I think he's ready to be in the rotation.
I don't see this as a win now move. I think it's about financial flexibility - especially in the summer of 2022 - and somewhat about Brown's potential.
Brown is 7'2" and very athletic. With some additional strength he might be the guy we need to battle with Embiid and Bam. Low risk high reward. Reasonable gamble for essentially a [HASH]16 pick.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 18, 2021 21:33:17 GMT -5
Brown average 9.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 24.7 minutes over the last 36 games of the year. I think he's ready to be in the rotation. I don't see this as a win now move. I think it's about financial flexibility - especially in the summer of 2022 - and somewhat about Brown's potential. Brown is 7'2" and very athletic. With some additional strength he might be the guy we need to battle with Embiid and Bam. Low risk high reward. Reasonable gamble for essentially a [HASH]16 pick. I really want to believe it, but he's too light in his lower half, and I think he'll be bullied out of low post position. But his saving grace could be his height and length -- even if he gets backed down, he can disturb shots with his length.
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Post by eja117 on Jun 18, 2021 22:04:58 GMT -5
Al is 35 and has lost a step, so I don't know if we should expect him to play a lot of minutes. But with him, Tristan and Rob (and whenever Moses is ready for minutes), hoping that Center by committee will prove to be competent against Embiid, Jokic, Ayton, etc. Speaking of losing a step have you seen Kemba play lately?
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Post by eja117 on Jun 18, 2021 22:08:13 GMT -5
I love this trade. I haven't seen a trade I've been this positive on in a while. This is a huge improvement to our front court, not much of a step back in the back court, and a huge step forward financially. Costs us almost nothing. The 16th pick? Whoop de doo. How many Nesmiths and Romeos do we need? Pritchard will be a little better and maybe Yam Madar will arrive. Maybe we get a low cost guy. This is way better than what we had. Horford isn't great but he's very efficient. The player that has now ended his career is Grant Williams. He's done. He's a bust.
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Post by jmost on Jun 19, 2021 7:25:28 GMT -5
Grant is surely going to have to fight for playing time. If we go big, Horford is at PF and RWill/TT/Brown is at center. If we go small, JT is at PF. Grant becomes no better than the 3rd string PF. I just don't think he has the physical tools to play PF/C.
Semi is in the same boat. One or both will probably be gone by October.
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Post by afceltic on Jun 19, 2021 9:16:27 GMT -5
Grant is surely going to have to fight for playing time. If we go big, Horford is at PF and RWill/TT/Brown is at center. If we go small, JT is at PF. Grant becomes no better than the 3rd string PF. I just don't think he has the physical tools to play PF/C. Semi is in the same boat. One or both will probably be gone by October. There will be a trade for a PG that I believe will include TT and hopefully Smart with the guys you mentioned. I don't believe for one second that they think that Smart can be a starting PG on a title contender. Pritchard is a back up PG too, so we really need a stabilizing PG whoever that is going to be running the show next year. I am still going to hold onto the dream that we get Lillard and become instant contenders. Our starting lineup would be similar to what we had a few years ago only with Fournier in Gordon's role which is a wash right now because neither stayed healthy, but there is no doubt when healthy Gordon is a much better player and Dame is Kyrie's role which we will be having a huge upgrade at PG.
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Post by jrmzt on Jun 20, 2021 3:25:41 GMT -5
Grant is surely going to have to fight for playing time. If we go big, Horford is at PF and RWill/TT/Brown is at center. If we go small, JT is at PF. Grant becomes no better than the 3rd string PF. I just don't think he has the physical tools to play PF/C. Semi is in the same boat. One or both will probably be gone by October. Lol i wonder where that leaves Tacko.. It'll be sad to see both go but they're far too undersized to contribute either against a big line up or too heavy to guard against a smaller line up.
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