On June 18, 2021, the Boston Celtics made a trade to send Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder and received a familiar face in return–Al Horford.
Horford signed with the Celtics in 2016 by way of the Atlanta Hawks and spent three years with the team.
In 2019, Horford signed with the Philadelphia 76ers before getting traded to the Thunder a little over a year later.
Re-acquiring Horford was former head coach Brad Stevens’ first move as president of basketball operations for the Celtics. So how does this trade age two years later?
Boston Celtics Trade Throwback #3: Al Horford Returns to Boston
Full Trade Details
Boston Celtics receive: PF/C Al Horford, C Moses Brown, and a 2023 second-round pick (pick was used to select PG Amari Bailey)
Oklahoma City Thunder receive: PG Kemba Walker, a 2021 first-round pick (pick was used to select C Alperen Şengün), and a 2025 second-round pick
Why the Boston Celtics Made the Trade
The 2020-21 season was a bit of a disappointment for the Celtics.
After finishing the year 36-36, the Celtics lost to the Brooklyn Nets in 5 games during the first round.
Over time, it became clear that Walker wasn’t a long-term option next to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. If the Celtics wanted to become immediate contenders again, they needed to shake things up. Walker just so happened to be the odd man out.
The problem is that Walker’s contract was way too expensive to be appealing to the average team. He had a hard time staying on the court and was clearly on the wrong side of his prime.
In order to trade Walker’s contract, the Celtics needed to take on another big contract in return and add a sweetener.
This is where Horford comes in.
Additionally, before the trade for the then 35-year-old Horford, the oldest player on the Celtics who wasn’t Walker was Tristan Thompson at 29 years old (although, it should be noted that Thompson was traded a few months later to the Sacramento Kings).
The Celtics needed a veteran who could also be a locker room guy. And with Horford having a successful first stint with the team and being former teammates with a few players on the roster, he became the obvious trade target.
Why the Oklahoma City Thunder Made the Trade
As for the Thunder, simply put, they were not good during the 2020-21 season.
The team ended the season with a 22-50 record and finished as the second-to-worst team in the Western Conference (only the Houston Rockets were worse). OKC ended up getting the 6th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and took Josh Giddey.
Although the Thunder weren’t in a position to make any serious noise around the league, there was plenty of young talent and long-term potential for the franchise. The story of this season was to let their young guys grow and improve.
On March 27, 2021, the Thunder shut Horford down for the remainder of the season to prioritize developing their young players.
Horford was a great veteran for the Thunder and helped his younger teammates develop, but that’s probably the biggest role he was going to have in OKC.
The Thunder had no use for Horford and his big contract, and it was pretty clear they didn’t want him to waste his final playing years on a rebuilding team.
Aftermath of the Trade
This trade was more of a salary dump for the Thunder while being a a bit of a core shakeup for the Celtics.
That said, there’s a lot more to this trade than just swapping big contracts.
In short, both teams had a separate goal in mind when this trade went down. The only question is, did the Celtics and Thunder get what they were hoping for out of the trade?
Boston Celtics
The 2021-22 season was much better for the Celtics. Boston finished the year 51-31 and was the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference behind the Miami Heat .
One year after losing to the Nets in the first round, the Celtics flipped the tables and swept Brooklyn in the first round.
The Celtics would go on to make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in over a decade in a matchup against the Golden State Warriors.
Despite winning Game 1 and eventually taking a 2-1 series lead, the Celtics lost to the Warriors in 6 games.
Although this was a disappointing finish to a magical year for the Celtics, there was a lot to build on.
The Celtics had another great year in 2022-23 and ended the year with a 57-25 record. As the 2nd seed, the Celtics made it all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals but were eliminated by the Miami Heat.
As it stands, the Celtics are still comfortably in title contention and are the betting favorites to at least represent the Eastern Conference in 2024.
Al Horford
In his first year back in Boston, Horford played and started 69 games. Horford averaged 10.2 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 3.4 APG, and 1.3 BPG.
What most NBA fans will remember about Horford’s first year back in Boston is his playoff success, which included a 26-point performance in Game 1 of the NBA Finals (and six three-pointers, an NBA Finals debut record).
Horford also snapped his NBA record of most playoff games played without an NBA Finals appearance, which was 141.
In December 2022, Horford signed a two-year, $20 million extension that runs through 2025.
At 37 years old, Horford will likely spend the rest of his career in Boston, and only time will tell if Horford can win a championship before deciding to hang it up.
Moses Brown
Boston traded Brown to the Dallas Mavericks just a little over a month after they acquired him. In return, the Celtics acquired Josh Richardson.
The Mavericks guaranteed Brown’s contract, but they waived him after 26 games.
In March 2022, Brown signed a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brown played four games before signing a second 10-day contract. By the end of the month, Brown signed a two-way contract and was with the team for the rest of the season.
Brown bounced around between the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets over the last two years.
In August 2022, Brown signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, the team he started his career with in 2019.
Oklahoma City Thunder
For the second straight year, the Thunder were the second-worst team in the Western Conference (funny enough ahead of only the Rockets again). Considering the Thunder are a young and rebuilding team, it wasn’t shocking to see little improvement in their record.
The 2022-23 season was a completely different story, though.
OKC skyrocketed to a 40-42 record, a 16-game improvement from the previous year. The team made it to the play-in tournament and defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in their first game. They eventually lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in their second game to get eliminated, however.
Much earlier than anticipated, the Thunder are prepared to make their presence felt in the NBA.
The team has a lot of potential and will likely continue to improve and become a threat with guys like Giddey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, and Jalen Williams (and Jaylin Williams too, to be fair).
Kemba Walker
To be blunt, the story of post-Celtics Walker is a little upsetting.
Walker and the Thunder reached a contract buyout in August 2021 following the trade.
The former All-Star signed with his hometown New York Knicks shortly after. And although Walker showed flashes of his old self (including a 44-point masterclass against the Wizards), many of his concerns as a member of the Celtics stayed true with the Knicks–he couldn’t stay healthy.
In February 2022, the Knicks shut Walker down for the remainder of the season.
The following offseason, the Knicks shipped Walker out to the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit bought him out before he ever suited up for the team.
In November 2022, Walker signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Despite having a 32-point game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in December, the Mavericks waived Walker in January 2023.
This offseason, the 33-year-old Walker signed with AS Monaco, a EuroLeague club. With this move, this marks the first time Walker will play basketball overseas.
It’s not fair to say Walker is never playing in the NBA again. However, it doesn’t look good for the UConn alum.
Verdict
If we’re talking about the literal trade of Horford and Walker, it’s pretty obvious the Celtics won over the Thunder. This, however, would not be fair to what the Thunder accomplished with this trade.
Although it could’ve been interesting to see what Walker could’ve done as a mentor for Gilgeous-Alexander, the main goal of this trade was never to acquire Walker or trade Horford. What Thunder GM Sam Presti was going for with this deal was acquiring more draft capital for the long-term success of his franchise.
And that’s what he did.
As for the Celtics, trading Walker was the only solution they had at this time. Moving on from Walker also finally gave long-time guard Marcus Smart the opportunity to become their primary point guard.
Plus, Horford and the Celtics were a perfect match. Horford needed to be on a team where he could immediately contribute and have a chance to win a championship. The Celtics, on the other hand, needed a reliable big man who could mesh well with their young core.
In all, it’s easy to say that both the Celtics and Thunder won this trade–so let’s do it and leave it at that.
The Thunder win because they got rid of a big contract in exchange for more assets. Likewise, the Celtics win because of how impactful Horford’s been since his trade back to Boston.
A little over two years later, both teams should be happy they made this deal.
