Report: Kemba Walker and Celtics heading for ‘mutual’ split
The Celtics’ shakeups this offseason don’t seem like they’ll just be limited to the front office. According to a new report, one of the team’s top scorers could be on his way out the door.
Farbod Esnaashari of Bleacher Report is reporting that “the Boston Celtics and Walker are likely to move forward from their relationship this offseason in a mutual agreement between the parties.” Esnaashari writes the issues between the two sides stem from former president of basketball operations Danny Ainge attempting to trade Walker just a year into his max deal, following a knee injury.
“Sources close to the Celtics revealed Ainge sought to trade Walker,” Esnaashari says. Even though Ainge is now longer with the team, the damage is apparently done.
“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,” Esnaashari continues. “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.”
Moving Walker won’t be a simple task. According to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, teams around the league “view Walker as having negative trade value,” due to both his knee issue and his contract. The 31-year-old has one more concrete year remaining on his current deal at $36 million. That’s followed by a one-year player option that will count $37.7 million against the cap.
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