The newly appointed Boston Celtics GM had some interesting choice of words when he first publicly spoke about the blockbuster trade that sent his former point guard Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Stevens' first move as the team's GM was a big one, sending his starting point guard and a first-round pick to OKC in exchange of the returning Al Horford and a young Moses Brown.
According to the 44-year-old executive, the priority was to really focus on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and potentially build around these two cornerstones.
“The ability to make our wings better is going to be a huge part of the people that will be around them,” Stevens said (via ESPN).
Unfortunately, those plans didn't include the four-time All-Star in Walker.
It's been a rollercoaster ride for Walker in his two seasons in Boston. He had big shoes to fill in replacing former champion Kyrie Irving upon signing a huge sign-and-trade deal worth $141 million. At times, Walker did look like he did fit as part of an incredible trio alongside Tatum and Brown. But, more often than not, Cardiac Kemba was nowhere to be found.
“Well, I think that's, right, part of the job change, right?” Stevens added when talking about wheeling and dealing superstars. “It is difficult. Because I really — for instance, just really liked Kemba, period, end of story. He is a super likable person,”
At the end of the day, Stevens felt like it was a tough but necessary move to help maximize their young core and hopefully bring the Celtics to the next level.
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