In a shocking series of events over the course of the past few days, Kemba Walker is planning to leave the Charlotte Hornets in free agency in order to sign with the Boston Celtics. This is a huge move that impacts both franchises severely.
Things have really turned around for Boston. After Al Horford joined Kyrie Irving in saying that he does not want to resign with the team, the Celtics were left with little to no hope for the upcoming season, and were expected to go into a rebuild and just let Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown develop. Instead, the Celts moved a few pieces like Aron Baynes, and cleared enough cap for a max-level player. Still, the general belief among the NBA community was that Boston would resign role players like Marcus Morris, and then pursue a decent but not great player with the leftover cap space. Another possibility being thrown out there was to give Malcolm Brogdon a large offer sheet, and then pursue Clint Capela via trade.
Instead, they went after Walker, and things worked out perfectly. Kemba is probably the closest thing the Celtics could have gotten as a Kyrie replacement, and he fits perfectly. He is a quiet leader, and unlike Kyrie, his ego will not be as much of a factor to the team. Kemba is also a great facilitator that can create a shot, but when necessary, can also carry the team and take the bulk of the offensive workload. He is also a great closer in crunch time situations. There are still some questions circling whether or not this was the best decision for Boston. They currently do not have a center that is consistent on offense or defense, and their starter might be on the veterans minimum.
For Charlotte, this shows how bad their management is. The Hornets apparently offered Kemba a 5 year, 160 million dollar deal, which is 60 million dollars less than the super-max that he was eligible for. If the Hornets knew that they didn't want to give Kemba the super-max, then they should have traded him back at the deadline so that they at least got some value for the all-star point guard. This is what the Kings did back in 2016 with DeMarcus Cousins. Boogie was going to be eligible for the super-max, so they dealt him to New Orleans and got back great assets like Buddy Hield.
The Celtics will still be relevant in the Eastern Conference after this move. They still are behind the 76ers, Bucks, and Raptors talent-wise, but all three of those teams have key players that are free agents. If the dominoes fall in the right way, Boston could find themselves contending for a championship. Meanwhile, the Hornets will likely be the worst team in the league, with no good players or cap room.
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