A Kemba Walker trade seemed inevitable this year. It started before last season, when the Celtics were reportedly attempting to trade him ahead of the draft and word got around to Walker.
There were no takers at the time for a player who had just been an All-Star starter months earlier, so the Celtics waited in hopes a prolonged rehab program would build him up to form. After a season sitting out back-to-backs, Walker started to look like himself again before he injured his knee in the Nets series and it was suddenly over.
In the end, the Celtics still needed to attach the 16th-overall pick in next month’s draft to move him, sending Walker to Oklahoma City for Al Horford and Moses Brown in addition to an exchange of second-round picks. It’s the second consecutive draft the Celtics have dispatched a first-round pick to unburden a salary, following the Enes Kanter trade which sent All-Rookie team member Desmond Bane to Memphis.
