More recent trade speculation concerning the Chicago Bulls on the point guard market entering the offseason came about this weekend. A piece from Bleacher Report this week mentioned a new potential trade target for the Bulls to fill their point guard need this summer. BR suggested that the Bulls get in trade talks with the Boston Celtics to get veteran star point guard Kemba Walker in a big-time deal that involves quite a few pieces.
This particular trade deal from BR suggested that the Celtics ship off Kemba to the Bulls for a return of combo guard Tomas Satoransky, point guard Coby White, and forward Al-Farouq Aminu. This would essentially match salaries for next year, and dump off one of the more expensive contracts that the Celtics currently have on their books.
But here’s more on what this BR piece had to say on the matter of this trade involving Kemba between the Bulls and Celtics.
"By trading for Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls signaled they’re clearly trying to win now. After still missing out on the 2021 postseason, adding Walker would make the Bulls a playoff lock next year.Although he battled knee issues throughout the year, Walker looked like his All-Star self during the second half of the season. Over his nine regular season games, the 31-year-old averaged 25.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.1 steals and shot 42.7 percent from three.A starting unit of Walker, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams, Thaddeus Young and Vucevic could compete for homecourt advantage in the East, and the addition of Walker would help convince LaVine to re-sign next offseason.A first-round playoff exit means the Celtics clearly aren’t ready to compete for a title yet, so swapping Walker for White resets the timeline."
Does this Kemba Walker trade make sense for the Chicago Bulls?
This trade would weigh down the Bulls cap sheet over the long haul thanks to Kemba’s max contract. But it would help to solve the Bulls’ point guard problem heading into next season. The hope would have to be that Kemba could stay healthy and return to the form he was at with the Charlotte Hornets.
Kemba was often injured with the Celtics for the past few seasons. The four-time All-Star Kemba missed some of the 2020-21 regular season, and some of the latter stretches of the prior campaign. He got to play in 43 games during the 2020-21 regular season, and then 56 during the 2019-20 regular season.
While it feels like a lot for the Bulls to give up Coby, most Celtics fans might feel that actually isn’t enough to get this deal done. All in all, this deal would hinge on how former Celtics head coach (now front office lead) Brad Stevens values Kemba in the starting unit moving forward.
White still will have two years left on his rookie deal. And Sato and Aminu would both be set to hit unrestricted free agency next offseason. So those contracts would not be on the books for all that long.
And that’s even considering that the Celtics could hold onto Sato’s contract all throughout next season in this hypothetical trade deal. His team-friendly contract is only partially guaranteed for next season.
If nothing else, this idea is worth some level of consideration if it were something that the Bulls’ front office was actually pondering. That also considers that the Celtics’ reshaping front office wants to get rid of Kemba’s large contract (worth more than $36 million next year) heading into next season.
A lot of this also depends on if the Celtics’ are planning to deconstruct most of the roster as a whole this summer.
The Bulls finished up last season with a record of 31-41 under the direction of first-year head coach Billy Donovan. They missed out on the postseason for the fourth straight year. And the Celtics were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs in five games by the surging Brooklyn Nets.